


Raishi Uchiha Chronicles

by ReccoFanfiction



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Hatake Kakashi, BAMF Nara Shikamaru, Body Flicker HeadCannon, Clan Heads - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Gen, Genjutsu, Gintama 'References', M/M, Politics, Shunshin HeadCannon, Uchiha Clan-centric, Uchiha Massacre, Uzumaki Naruto Needs a Hug, Yaoi, Yuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2018-09-23 13:56:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 41,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9660245
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReccoFanfiction/pseuds/ReccoFanfiction
Summary: The younger brother of Shisui Uchiha took after his elder. How will having a brighter personality around all the time effect Sasuke - and can Raishi actually keep such an outlook considering all the outside forces trying to manipulate him and the last of his family - Especially when the shadows within Konoha itself were closing in.





	1. The Massacre

Being an Uchiha was awkward.

Everyone other than my brother just seemed… Stiff. I once asked Shisui why they were all like that, but he just laughed and ruffled my hair. Later on, he just told me that some of the Uchiha were born that way – We were some of the lucky few that were not. He also claimed that his friend Itachi was also different from the usual Uchiha, but I did not see it.

Itachi seemed pretty much the same as the typical Uchiha to me.

Some of my favorite pass times were training to become a ninja with Shisui-nii. My brother liked to claim that I was in a competition to become better than Itachi's brother, Sasuke. Personally, I didn't care about that competition stuff, but I loved spending time with my brother. Since I was going to become a ninja someday, learning these things was probably important. Shisui-nii didn't like to talk too much about everything he did as a ninja, but he definitely talked about how much of a privilege it was to protect your village and help to enforce justice in a way that honors yourself and your family.

Eventually, I noticed that even Shisui-nii was becoming stiffer.

Honestly, I didn't understand just what was going on, but I was distracted by Shisui-nii signing me up to go to the academy. I ended up being classmates with my 'rival' Sasuke, which honestly I didn't care much about. Usually, I just went there and kind of slept… The lessons weren't interesting like what Shisui-nii taught me. They were boring, useless, dry, and the sensei would just drone on and on about something that happened like fifty years ago! It was a waste of time.

It was around the time that I turned seven that I became more knowledgeable of the fact Shisui-nii was going through some hard times. He seemed pretty jumpy, and whenever I asked what was wrong, I would get some stupid answer. I knew what it meant, my bother only wanted to protect me. Still, I wanted to protect my brother as well – That is the way it should be. Brother's protecting brothers; at least that was what Shisui-nii taught me.

Therefore, I followed him around.

Shisui-nii once told me that I was not good at stealth.

I told him that for seven years old, I was probably one of the best he'd met. My brother just laughed me off, said that he'd met better and that I should never forget that there was always someone better.

Maybe that's why he found me following him and gave me the angriest expression I'd ever seen on him, "Rai-chan, what are you doing out here?"

I just gave him the biggest grin I could, but my eyes held the worry I was feeling, "I'm following you because I definitely want to be able to help my brother. You taught me that, so I have to live up to it."

My brother just stared at me for a moment, before giving a chuckle, "I just can't stay mad at you, can I Rai-chan. My adorable little brother just gives me one look… Okay… The things that I'm involved with are no good for a little kid like you, but you're mature. I won't tell you anything about what I'm doing, but I will tell you that it's dangerous. That is what ninja life is though – You put yourself in danger to do the right thing sometimes. Itachi and I, we're both putting ourselves in harm's way to protect the things that we care about the most. Especially both you and Sasuke. So I need you to watch out for yourself and Itachi's little brother, do you understand?"

My brother trusted me with this.

I don't think I'd ever felt something as warm as what I was feeling in that moment. I felt worthy like I could do anything as long as he was looking at me with those trusting eyes.

"I promise Shisui-nii, I'll protect myself and Uke-chan! Even though he is a stiffy Uchiha."

I noticed my brother about to burst into laughter, and just pouted, not really understanding what was wrong.

The lighthearted atmosphere ended rather quickly, as I was rushed back to the clan compound and my brother left quickly pointed a few things out, "I'm definitely going to come back from this mission little brother, that's a promise. However, just in case, you see that picture right there? Behind it is some of the Jutsu that I made and perfected. If something happens to me that is where you can learn this family's legacy. Sure, we are Uchiha, but we are more than that too."

Shisui-nii left soon after that.

Later the next day, I was walking home with Sasuke when we noticed that something wasn't right. Entering the Uchiha Compound wasn't meant to be a war zone, but it was. There were bodies everywhere, blood… Moreover, there was a figure, someone that both of the seven-year-old kids knew. Itachi Uchiha.

Clearly, I had been wrong about the fact that Itachi wasn't different from the rest of the clan, maybe in an unexpected way… He smelled of blood, and I just wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, but my legs wouldn't move. Sasuke didn't seem to have the same problem, rather, he seemed oblivious to the fact it was Itachi that had done the carnage.

His eyes weren't the typical Sharingan either. Instead, they struck a cord of deep revulsion that had me flinching away, even though logically I knew Itachi had never hurt me before, even if the evidence really spoke for itself...

The second after my eyes met Itachi's however, the world faded away, and I was brought somewhere else. My brother was across from me. I was about to shout out to Shisui-nii, to tell him what was going on, to tell him that we needed to get help, to get the Hokage, to do something.

Instead, Itachi appeared out of nowhere and killed him.

I just stared.

I watched as Shisui's blood drained quickly from the horrifyingly gaping wound on, no, inside of his neck. It was much more than a simple slit throat, it almost seemed as though he was decapitated, because I could actually see the bone from my brother's neck peaking outside of the 'cut'.

I felt detached in a way that I couldn't really explain. There was a rage inside of me that I'd never felt before, but at the same time, I knew that this wasn't right. This didn't actually happen, I had been just outside the Compound, and then I was suddenly in my family's house? That didn't make any sense – It was Genjutsu. That didn't make it feel any less real.

"He's dead, I killed him, and I killed them all. There was nothing you or that weakling Sasuke could have done to stop me. You don't have the strength, you don't have the hatred." Itachi's voice echoed.

"This is my Genjutsu…. For the next 24 hours, you will be tortured with the image of me killing Shisui. You have 23 hours and 50 minutes left."

And hell began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited (D/M/Y): 13/10/2017
> 
> Edits Included: Phrasing things to make it flow a bit better, a few changes to wording, and adding a section where Shisui mentions to Raishi that there is always someone stronger than you in the shinobi world.


	2. The In-Between

It was said that the Uchiha activated their Sharingan when they experienced something extremely stressful or traumatic.

I now knew that this wasn't true, because of the night of the massacre, when I activated my Sharingan, Sasuke didn't. Sitting together in the hospital room, feeling cold and more isolated then I'd ever felt, I asked my only remaining relative if he'd activated it during the attack. He whispered feather light and breaking that no, he had not.

I did not tell him that I had.

I wouldn't tell anyone, not until I knew for sure what was going on and why this had happened. If Itachi was killing people with the Sharingan, saying that I had it before I could defend myself was like suicide. Ultimately, I knew that thinking over the situation from a strategic point of view was not going to help me get over what happened. I would never get over it… That did not mean I could not move passed it.

"At least we still have each other." I offered to the still Sasuke, who still looked brittle enough to crack.

Sasuke did not say anything back.

…

Going back home was a somber experience. It was almost as though I did not believe my brother was gone until I walked into the house. It was empty; no longer did it have the same cheer that my brother and I shared together. If I thought I'd felt alone in the hospital – It was nothing compared to the sheer ice that I felt here.

My brother left me something though.

He said that if he died I should check it out, in some ways, I was almost sure he was expecting to die.

The whole situation was sticky, something did not fit right, but I was not exactly sure that I wanted to know. Getting involved in something that ended up with my whole clan killed and my brother dead probably was not the brightest idea that I had ever had. Therefore, I went over to where my brother left my promised inheritance and I found something that warmed that ice quite a bit.

It was a book, the book was plain looking, but it was the title that really did me in, "Guide to Being a Bad Ass Uchiha without being a Stiffy. By Shisui Uchiha."

Tears escaped my eyes, falling onto the bindings of the book, but my mouth was spread in a wide grin.

…

I had a few weeks off from the academy.

Grieving time, they said. The villagers looked at both Sasuke and me with pity in their eyes. Sasuke did not like it, I could tell. He would glare at them, but I looked at it and could not help but think that it was almost nice. Those people had taken the time out of their day to actually think about my ungrateful brat relative and me. Despite the fact it was in a distasteful way. Instead of glaring like my darling cousin, I gave them a thumb up and a smile – If I was okay, then they would not look at me like that anymore.

It would make them feel better as well – So why not?

During the time off from the academy, I read the book my brother had left me backward and forwards. I wanted to memorize every word, even if I could not actively do any of those things yet, even if I never could, I would remember my brothers legacy in this, and in all the other ways I could think to do so.

While I did this, Sasuke trained with a ferocity that I don't think I have ever seen in a human being.

When I asked why he was pushing himself so far, he would grunt before replying, "I'm going to get strong enough to kill him, to avenge our family."

I just nodded thoughtfully and thanked him for letting me know. I kept my opinion to myself because dark eyes like those wouldn't listen to my doubts. Especially considering that I had nothing to back it up other than the mild feeling that something was out of place. Not only was it not enough to get my cousin to believe, it also wasn't enough for me to go and possibly get Uke-chan's broken heart to fill with hope again. If it did, I somehow doubt it would actually survive another breaking.

It was a good place to remember some of his brother's book:  _Keep your cards close. Information is gold in the shinobi world. When you gain a skill, keep it secret. When you learn something dangerous, bury it deep, and keep yourself safe from those who would do you harm. No matter what though, don't let it affect who you are as a person. Being a shinobi and being a human go together hand-in-hand over an extremely thin line. Walking that line is the most important step to not becoming a stiffy._

…

I told my brother's book to heart in so many ways.

I kept smiling; I found reasons to be happy every day. The sky, the sun, the beautiful weather, the people that cared even when you didn't know them. There are so many good things in this world. At the same time, I kept in mind just how easy it was to destroy this good. It was flimsy, breakable, and it needed people to protect it.

We had gone back to the academy.

Sasuke was obsessive, learning everything he could there, then coming home to the compound and learning even more. Working himself to the bone n a way that might actually be counterproductive. Somehow, though, I couldn't bring myself to stop him. Even knowing that he was possibly hurting himself, I knew that Uke-chan needed it.

Just like he needed me to call him Uke-chan, to poke fun at him, to seem happy at all times.

I was more than willing to do that for him. When he wasn't paying attention though, then it was time for me to start improving myself. Seriousness was need sometimes, and I needed to train. Not only had I activate my Sharingan and gained a burning curiosity on how to use it, I also needed to become strong enough to protect that cousin of mine from the stupid things that he did. This is part of the reason I choose the way I would go with my ninja skills.

Shisui's book had several pointers for me that I took under advisement.

Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, Fuinjutsu, Taijutsu, Iryō Ninjutsu, Bukijutsu, Interrogation and Torture, Intelligence, and more. All of those were different ninja specialties. Shisui recommended in his book that you choose one or two to become extremely good at, then you take the others and keep yourself on or above average.

I choose Genjutsu and Iryō Ninjutsu to be the two types that I focused on.

The exhausting work that you would need to put yourself through for Ninjutsu or Taijutsu wasn't all that fitting for me. Fuinjutsu was hard to learn, not many people taught it. Bukijutsu wasn't all that smart a choice as far as I could tell, it was very limiting, and the sub-classifications of interrogation etc. didn't fit me at all. I doubt I could torture someone with a straight face.

The most important part of Genjutsu and Iryō Ninjutsu was chakra control, which is why not many males bothered to get into it. Males, in general, were horrible at chakra control, as their chakra was more wild and unrefined then a woman's by nature. That wouldn't stop me though, if it took longer for a man to become good at chakra control, then I would just do it quicker than any male before me.

Shisui lists several chakra control exercises in his book – Expressing a deep appreciation for it. Shisui-nii was actually a very good Genjutsu user and had ground chakra control techniques for all they were worth, or so he says.

I wanted to be like Shisui-nii, to follow in the overly large footprints that my brother had left behind.

If it were purely about that, however, I wouldn't have chosen to learn Iryō Ninjutsu as well. The reasoning behind that was… I was going to become the person that Sasuke could depend on. When he happened to be injured training, I would heal him. When he was nearly dead, I'd be there to save his life, and when he went after people that were utterly out of his league… I'd be there to pull him out.

Therefore, when Sasuke was busy and paying me no mind, I trained myself into the dirt.

…

A year later, I was definitely noticing the fruits of my labor. I didn't bother to show anyone else, not only did I not want Sasuke to know, but I also still remembered Shisui's advice to keep my cards close.

I had gotten the leaf floating and tree walking exercise down. Now, I was working on the walker walking exercise.

It was interesting, learning chakra control.

It helps to grow your wells of chakra for one. Each time I practiced I could feel chakra and control falling into place as though it belonged there. I practiced the hell out of each of the techniques, half a year for each one. I mastered them, I didn't just complete them. I wanted to be able to do them when distracted, when reading, when using the Sharingan. Utilizing my Sharingan was one of the most useful ways to train, I had realized early on. I would use it to watch my own training and help me to learn and memorize the way my chakra flowed through my body. This was a two-fold way of training, as it helped me to increase my stamina in regards to my dojutsu.

It stayed with one comma in each eye, but that wasn't something that I really cared about.

With the ability to use the Sharingan came the want to abuse it.

I wasn't so stupid as to think I could just walk down into a Jounin training session and copy their jutsu and be able to use them perfectly. I didn't have the chakra for that, and it would strain my eyes far too much. I did, however, very much want to use them to help me learn a Taijutsu style. At the moment, I very much disliked Taijutsu. The punching, kicking and practicing forms is mindless. I wanted to do as little of it as possible. The urge to use my dojutsu eventually overcame me, but if I was going to do it, I would be smart about it.

I would keep in mind my brother's words:  _The Sharingan is a powerful tool. It's just that however, a tool. Too many of the stiffy Uchiha look at it as though it's what makes them a great ninja. This isn't the case. What makes a good ninja is what they can do without any of the tools that genetics would have given them. This is something that can only be achieved through hard work and practice. Something that I don't blame you for trying to avoid, but you absolutely must avoid this trap._

I wanted something that allowed for a lot of dodging. It would be best, considering my main avenues, to be able to run away and dodge effectively and only striking when I knew I would hit something vital.

I didn't know of a style like that.

Well, that plan was utter scrap. I resisted the urge to pout about it, deciding that I would just have to wait until I found a style I liked.

…

There was a newcomer in my class that I was really coming to like. Naruto Uzumaki was the sun, the way he lit the room when he walked in was undeniable to anyone that bothered to pay any attention. Everything became more lively, even my darling Uke-chan paid attention to him. Those attentions were fleeting though, and I could almost see the way that Naruto was hurting.

I just didn't know what I could do about it.

In a way, Naruto reminded me of my brother. Sure, he was unrefined, loud, and clashing, but there was something underneath all of that.

The blonde was also reminding me of the fact that there were other people in the world. Hell, it was only in that moment that I realized I didn't really know any of my classmate's names. Had I become so obsessed that I didn't even notice I was falling under it all? I clearly needed friends other than Sasuke and training. Naruto presented the perfect first victim.

"Hey, I'm Raishi Uchiha, don't worry though, I'm not like my stick in the mud cousin. I actually know how to smile." As if to prove it, I gave the blonde in front of me a wide toothy grin.

He looked up with an even wider smile. It was as if someone had just handed him the world, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and one day, I'm going to become Hokage! Dattebayo!"

"Hokage huh… You have a lot of work cut out for you then. I'll definitely find some way to push you there; after all, I think we are going to become great friends."

That was the start of something amazing.

Because Naruto's eyes lit up in such a bright blue that I thought I was looking at a clear blue sky. In that moment, Sasuke didn't matter at all. How could he in the face of such innocent happiness. A happiness that I would protect, just like I knew that delicate beauty in the world needed protecting, I knew that Naruto needed it so much more.

…

It was a good choice, I knew that. Having more than one friend was better than having the one. Naruto was amazing and filled in parts of my heart that I had forgotten. I was teasing people again, people I just met, I was touching people in passing, friendly pats on the shoulder or back. Things that I didn't even notice I'd been avoiding. I'd been healed from injuries I didn't even notice I was carrying.

Now I needed something else, though I didn't really understand where that yearning was coming from.

I wanted someone else to be my friend, and I wanted someone that was my own age. Looking around the academy classroom, I knew that it wasn't going to be an easy choice.

All my cousin's fangirls were immediately out of the running.

Shino was too quiet for me.

Kiba was too loud for me.

Hinata was too delicate, a weird sort of breakable.

That left two choices. Shikamaru Nara or Chouji Akimichi.

Having both of them would be a pain. In addition to Naruto, having two other friends was too much. One was perfect, but which… At least, that thought lasted until I saw Shikamaru cloud watching, just enjoying his day. The Nara looked so peaceful. I smiled as I looked on, before eventually walking over to join him after Chouji left. I didn't say a word, just lay right next to him and looked at the sky, the clouds, and noted that it really was beautiful.

This would work.

…

One of the things that my brother warned against was using chakra weights until I hit puberty. If I used them before that, I would stay short as my growing would be permanently stunted.

Eventually, I decided that I would prefer it that way.

Not only would I get the use of chakra weights down and become much faster, but even if it did slow my growth, all that would really do was give me something that would make my opponents underestimate me. What wasn't to like about that? The logical choice was the one I made; I walked into the ninja shop with that in mind.

I bought four chakra weights, one for each limb. The guy that was selling them clearly didn't know what they were.

Then something else caught my eye.

"What's that doing in a ninja shop?" I asked suddenly, pointing my finger toward the object in question.

The man tilted his head to the side as he looked at it as well, "A ninja made it specifically for himself but was dying from something terminal and he gave it to me. He said that it was made out of chakra conductive metal, whatever that means… It's too heavy for moving, so I just left it against the wall where he put it."

"I want it."

What was it exactly? A steal or metal rod, sturdy as all hell, with metal sheets around it. Opening it up, it became an umbrella. There were seals on it as well, although I had no clue what they meant. The 'fabric' part of the 'umbrella' was made of a weird metal, it bent, but it was colored as well. Anyone that didn't touch it would have thought it was made of cloth. It was an abnormal weapon that was for sure. I could tell that was exactly what it was though.

I was weirdly drawn to it, but I would make it mine and figure out its use. Most likely just integrating it into my fighting style when I finally got around to it.

Sure, I bought it, but I expected to be able to pick it up.

"I'll also need one of those things you use to move heavy things around your shop. I'll pay for it, of course."

Therefore, it would be a while before I could start training with the weirdly heavy umbrella, but I was still happy with my choice.

After all, no one expected an  _umbrella_  of all things to be a weapon.

…

Eventually, I decided that it would be stupid to learn both Taijutsu and how to use my umbrella. It was a waste of time to learn both when they were going to amount to the same thing. No one that I knew used an Umbrella to fight, but honestly, that just made it more interesting.

Ultimately I decided to make some sort of a cross between a sword style of fighting and fan style...

In the fan style of fighting, the fan itself was used as a shield a lot. My umbrella was perfect for that. When opened, it was also sharp on the edges, so if I was careful I could actually use it as a slicing weapon, hence learning a sword style. I had mused over Bōjutsu but eventually decided that the umbrella was too short for that style to be of use.

Coming up with my own style was harder than I thought, I learned quickly enough. This was exceptionally true because the umbrella was so heavy. I had only just managed to pick it up after a month of hard work.

I only just now knew how much work was going to be involved in learning how to become a ninja good enough to follow my brother's legacy, yet somehow I had never been more determined to make this work.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited (D/M/Y): 13/10/2017
> 
> Edits Included: Phrasing things to make it flow a bit better, a few changes to wording and fixing some typos that were rather grating which I only just noticed, and a few spacing issues.


	3. The Graduation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>   
>  Sasuke  
> Ninjutsu: 2.5 Taijutsu: 2.5 Genjutsu: 1.5 Intelligence: 2 Strength: 2 Speed: 3 Stamina: 2 Hand Seals: 3  
> Total: 18.5
> 
> Raishii  
> Ninjutsu: 2 Taijutsu: 0.5 Genjutsu: 3 Intelligence: 4.5 Strength: 3 Speed: 3.5 Stamina: 0.5 Hand Seals: 2  
> Total: 19  
> 
> 
> So you have a good idea on the strength of Raishi compared to other characters. I want it to be pretty clear that he isn't being some OP god, he is just smarter than most of the people around him and uses his skills wisely. In this chapter in particular, I want to make sure that it's clear he could face the opponent he did because that opponent was an arrogant little snot who thought themselves untouchable, and said opponent was shocked by the skills he didn't know Raishi had.

The thing I loved about weight training was the fact you didn't actually have to go out of your way. It might not be as fast, but just walking around the village you would eventually get the effects of the training. Therefore, that is exactly what I did. Instead of doing reps, I would just up the weights and walk around the village, a book in hand.

It was good multitasking.

The books I read usually had something to do with the human body and anatomy. I had not actually learned any real Iryō Ninjutsu yet, but I needed this knowledge before I used those techniques anyway.

I had three more years until graduation.

The day loomed over me as if telling me that I needed to be more than ready, I needed to be exceptional by the time I graduated or I was done for when I actually met with the ninja world. I knew that it was not so dire. When I graduated, I would have a whole team, a Jounin-sensei to keep us safe and train us, but the logic did not affect my thinking any.

There had also been several other developments.

My umbrella with seals on it? I got curious so I channeled a little bit of chakra into one of the seals. It transformed the umbrella to look exactly like its flimsy unweaponized brother, though it weighted the same and kept all the original properties.

My friendships with Naruto and Shikamaru were also going well.

Naruto was one of the best friends you could ask for. Sasuke did not like the fact that I had befriended the dobe – but there was a weird look in his eye as he said it. Somehow, I got the feeling that really, he was just jealous. My little Uke-chan wanted Naruto to be his friend as well. It was adorable. I snickered whenever I noticed him looking at Naruto with hidden longing. Naruto was actually much the same toward Sasuke. If I had to guess, it was because both of them were extremely lonely. When they were in the same room together, they sort of started to ignore me in favor of each other.

I was okay with that, after all, I had someone separate from them as well. Shikamaru was one of the most relaxing friends you could ask for. I just met him in the same spot every day, sometimes I would watch the clouds with him, other times I would sit next to him and read, and it had been going on for a few years now. About a year in, I broke our silence, "Are we friends?"

"Don't be stupid."

 _We've been friends for awhile moron_ , in Shikamaru-language.

…

My style with the umbrella was completed as much as I could without the help of an actual teacher. I felt good walking around with it, as though it were just a normal umbrella. It was actually an interesting exercise, making it seem like the thing weighed like nothing more than a normal sun umbrella.

Everything seemed to be falling into place recently.

My chakra control was extremely good now, especially for my age. I had the walker walking down; meanwhile, the kids at the academy were still floating leafs.

It made me feel prideful, but I knew better than to let that get to me.

Shisui said:  _Pride is the downfall of good shinobi, but it is the ultimate bane to Uchiha. If you are not careful, you can get so prideful that it blinds you to the real world. That does not mean that you cannot feel pride in your skills, it just means you have to remain mindful of the fact that there is always someone better._

One day I had been sleeping in class, and Iru-sensei woke me up with his usual vigor, saying that we were learning about the Sannin on that day. Tsunade, the famous medical ninja the whole world acknowledged her for her skill, the Nukenin who became the strongest enemy of the Leaf, and the Sage who taught the Fourth Hokage. I only had ears in regards to Tsunade, however.

She was the female idol, but she was my goal.

…

The year of graduation was crunch time.

I already knew I could pass the academy test. I just wanted my skills to be above par. I had been training myself in chakra control and knowledge, it was time to start putting that to the test. I set a goal for myself. Before I graduated, I would have at least three Genjutsu down, and at least one Iryō Ninjutsu.

The Genjutsu would not be Sharingan Genjutsu either. Those would come naturally for me; the Sharingan just naturally had a good skill boost with Genjutsu. No, those techniques needed to be non-Sharingan related. It would be good for me, to learn not to rely so much on my dojutsu.

I had a lot of work in front of me.

…

Naru-chan once asked why I never trained physically. The most he had ever seen me do was throwing kunai so that I could get enough aim to actually pass the test. Honestly, I did not know how to explain it without coming off as insulting toward his own efforts.

"I guess… The type of shinobi I want to be doesn't need Taijutsu as the main avenue." I muttered but then gave Naruto a mischievous smirk, "Do not worry though, Naru-chan; I actually do some physical training. You just can't see me doing it."

Sometimes I practiced with my weights off. You needed to be able to adapt to the speeds to use them, otherwise, they were worthless. Even never doing much physical activity and only upping my weights the tiniest bit every day; I had gained a large amount of speed. Nothing compared to what I would actually gain if I did the hard work to back it up, but I preferred to take it easy and supplement my general knowledge.

I even read history. As long as Iruka-sensei was not the one teaching it, the information became infinitely less boring.

Naru-chan also did not know that my skill set lay in Genjutsu and Iryō Ninjutsu; I do not think anyone did.

Although Shika-chan might have guessed, seeing my books a lot of the time when we were together looking at the clouds.

I had actually gotten the Mystical Palm Technique done rather well. I had been practicing on fish, as the book had recommended. Once I had that down, I cut myself and started to heal that. It sounded almost disturbing to say that, but practice made perfect.

Genjutsu was harder to work on. I thought I had the techniques down, I knew the hand signs and everything, but I definitely needed to practice on an actual person.

…

"Shika-chan! I want your help with something." I said, walking up to my friend.

He looked up, surprised. Normally we somewhat just sat in the comfortable silence, rarely if ever exchanging any words, "… Yes?"

He seemed almost hesitant, worried about just what my request would be. I don't think I would have blamed him for that either. I do not think the grin on my face was the nicest at the moment, "I need some help making sure I'm using these Genjutsu right. You wouldn't want your dear friend to die because they used a technique they weren't sure would work on a living human, would you?"

I laid it on thick and quick. If I left room for Shika-chan to maneuver, he would escape.

"Troublesome…" He whispered, realizing that I had him caught.

Personally, Shikamaru didn't have that much of a problem helping Raishi, the male was his friend and barely ever asked for anything. Honestly, it was the least demanding relationship that he had. It was nice, calming, and he supposed that he did owe Raishi some help for giving him that.

Seeing him getting up, although he remained rather laze in demeanor, I knew that I owed my friend something for this. I highly doubted that the experience would be pleasant, Genjutsu rarely were.

…

Naru-chan was having problems. The Academy test was just around the corner, and he still couldn't do the clone jutsu. He told me that he had it under control, but a week before the test took place, he came to me and confessed wearing a sheepish grin.

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Really Naru-chan if you just told me before the ass end of this year I could have helped you much faster. You stubborn little trickster you." I flicked him on the forehead, laughing as he reached up and placed a hand on his forehead in shock, "Now, let's see this clone jutsu of yours."

The problem was worse than I thought.

The fact was, it shouldn't be a problem for an academy student. Naruto was putting way too much chakra into the technique and was making it practically explode. I'd actually seen Sasuke do it once as well and immediately corrected him, saying that he needed to make sure he was using a smaller amount of chakra. I tried giving this instruction to Naruto as well. Yet, he proved incapable of actually collected that small of an amount of chakra.

A week, a week to learn more advanced chakra control? Naruto would have to learn at least water walking if he wanted hope to use the clone technique by the look of it.

"Naru-chan, I know what the problem is. I'm just not sure if we can actually fix it in time… I'll try though." I was determined to never see the sadness in Naruto's eyes after failing the exam ever again.

Therefore, I started to instruct him in tree walking.

As he did that, I took the time to polish up on a few things. I had learned the three Genjutsu that I wanted, along with the one Iryō Ninjutsu that was the most basic, and useful. In combat though, hand seals were a pain. You needed to be able to get through them quickly or take some of them out. The better your control, the easier it was to take some hand seals out, but before I experimented on that, I wanted to be able to do the hand signs faster.

Practice would make perfect with this. Still, it was better than practicing Taijutsu Kata, at least when I did this, I could read at the same time.

Naruto was determined, but I knew he wasn't going to learn enough chakra control before the exam to actually be able to pass it.

I let him down.

I wouldn't allow myself to do that again.

…

I dressed the day of the academy assessment in my typical clothing. A mesh short beneath a grey haori with deep blackish red flames, followed by black pants that fit to my leg from the knee down, and black sandals that were a mix of zori and waraji style. My hair was its typical black spiky mess. My weights were on under my clothing, you wouldn't know they were there unless you were truly looking for them. I also had my unassuming umbrella with me, it looked natural for me holding it now, no sign of any straining muscles even as I held it over my head.

I was actually pretty excited, bordering on nervous.

This was truly the first day of my shinobi career should I pass this test. And I would pass it, I was determined to.

I already knew how it would go, I would pass the written exam with flying colors (Much to the surprise of Iruka-sensei since I sleep in his class all the time), I would ace the Genjutsu test easily, I knew all the academy basic Ninjutsu so I would pass that. I would get a poor grade in Taijutsu and Bukijutsu. I'd pass somewhere in the back end of the class. Not last, I'm sure, but not even near the middle.

I might be able to pull out a pass in Taijutsu if I surprised the examiner with my speed, but keeping the cards close was an important part of being a shinobi – there was no shame in passing but doing so with low grades. As long as you actually had the skill to go on hidden within.

I believed that I truly had the skill to be a Genin a while ago.

Uke-chan was somewhat similar in that aspect. He probably didn't want to graduate early because Itachi did.

I also believed that Naruto had the skill as well. His chakra level was way above normal, and his ability with traps and pranks made up for any failing that he had. At least, it should have. The people that were testing him were weirdly against Naru-chan. One day I would find out why, but every time I asked someone the reason he or she seemed to dislike my adorable little friend, they would just say it was about the pranks.

They must have thought me an idiot.

For some reason, people in this village didn't believe you were actually smart if you could manage to smile at them. I should encourage that, despite the fact it was mildly insulting.

Arriving at the Academy, I saw Uke-chan already there, ignoring the fangirls. I folded my umbrella but, as always, I kept it with me. I sat next to Shikamaru, who lifted his head to give me a lazy smile before his head slammed back toward the desk and snores started to erupt from his spiky head.

I erupted into snickers.

When Naruto showed up, it got even better. He was glaring at Uke-chan, even got up on the desk in front of Sasuke to do so. He was bumped forward, I grabbed Shikamaru's head and bent it toward the sight, knowing he wouldn't want to miss it.

Naruto and Sasuke had connected lips.

My snickers turned into full-blown laughter, Shikamaru started to chuckle as well.

Naru-chan looked at me hurt by the fact I was laughing at his pain, but I just waved it off. Teasing was common between good friends, Naru-chan would get over it.

Eventually, we all were passed out exams and were told to shut the hell up. I finished it reasonably quickly and was dragged in to do the other assessments. I did as predicted, no surprises. It was still passing, and I was given my forehead protector. I decided that I would take the silver off and stitch it into my sash that was used to tie my haori.

When I walked back out, Shika-chan was sleeping, having only answered one question on his test. I shrugged, deciding I would just stay there and see how my friends and cousin did.

Uke-chan and Shika-chan ended up passing.

Naru-chan didn't.

"Naru-chan…" He looked about ready to tear up. I wanted to rip the world apart for making him look so sad.

Then an unexpected factor was introduced – Mizuki.

…

He was so blatant in his treachery. The man didn't even really bother to hide what he was doing, even when I was standing right there watching him manipulate my friend. Still, I knew that Naruto would take the man's word as law, especially considering it could potentially get him what he wanted most – Becoming an active Shinobi.

So I pretended as if I believed it too.

Being with Naru-chan when this inevitably blew up was the better option to getting Naruto mad at me for my suspicion and then the blonde going off to do the 'mission' on his own.

I stayed at Naruto's side the whole way, even when he used his Sexy Jutsu on the Hokage. Personally, I'd never seen what was so appealing about the jutsu, although many of the other people in my class liked it… Too much. Just like the Hokage, it seemed, because the man fell over from blood loss as it just spurted like a gazer out of his nose. It was frankly disturbing to think that the Hokage of the village could be done in so easily. I  _really hoped_  the man was faking it. If he wasn't though... It gives me a few ideas – If I could make a Genjutsu that played on perverts… That would actually work rather well. I would need to research that later on.

Naruto took the scroll he was after, and we both fled into the forest.

Honestly, I was incredibly surprised that this had worked out.

It seems that even I had underestimated Naru-chan because his stealth was pretty damn amazing. I knew his traps were good, but this was another thing entirely.

We settled down to wait for Mizuki, Naruto doing so by going to the scroll and learning the jutsu that he wanted.

"There's a cool Genjutsu in here too!"

I tried to resist.

"Can I see Naru-chan?"

I couldn't bring myself to.

Naruto handed me the scroll as he worked on the 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' and there were tons of techniques on there. I knew the one that Naruto was talking about right off the bat. It was called, 'Genjutsu: Kokuangyo no Jutsu' the description saying that it brought the opponent to blindness. It was apparently extremely chakra intensive and extremely hard to break. Only people with greater chakra control or chakra amount could break it, and even then it was hard. Rated as an A-rank Kinjutsu because of the fact it costs the user so much chakra.

I turned on my Sharingan and copied the instructions for the Jutsu. I didn't think I'd be learning that anytime soon, but eventually when I had the chakra for it, the technique could be one of my best.

It was Iruka-sensei who eventually burst through into the clearing Naruto and I occupied. In the meantime, I took to staring at Naru-chan in awe. He got that technique down incredibly fast. Although he didn't master it, considering he wasn't having any feedback from the clones – I had tested it. Still, it was incredibly impressive.

"Naruto-kun, I expect things like this from you, but you Raishi-kun? I expected better…" He looked honestly disappointed, and Iruka's disappointment burned.

Naruto jumped to our defense, "Mizuki-sensei said that I could pass the Genin test if I took this scroll and learned a jutsu from it, and I have!"

Naruto raised his hand in the sign for Kage Bunshin, and two solid clones appeared at his side.

Iruka seemed rather dumbfounded, I didn't blame him. He also seemed confused, "Mizuki… What did you do." I heard him mutter to himself.

"I was trying to get the scroll and blame it all on the little demon. Everyone would believe it, the plan was pretty much full proof as well." A voice came from the shadows and walked farther into the clearing, showing itself. Mizuki… However, he looked half-crazed.

"Demon…?" Naruto whispered to himself, his head facing downward eyes sad, "You said… You said that you wanted to help me… That I could pass."

"Did I say that? Why would I ever let a demon like you into the shinobi corps? I've tried so hard over the years to make sure you failed, teaching you the wrong things, the wrong forms, stances… It worked! Finally, my plan has panned out." He gave an evil smirk, "But before I kill you, did you want to know the reason? Why everyone hates you?"

As Mizuki was speaking, I was growing to hate him. I hated him more than I ever hated Itachi. Who was he, to talk to Naruto like that. The sunny blonde didn't deserve it, that sort of hollow look should never be in his eyes. I hide in the shadows, no one noticed me leave, all caught up in their own drama.

"Mizuki, you can't say anything, the Thirds Law…" Iruka whispered horror started to spread on his face.

The ninja didn't listen, "Naruto, you are the demon fox that attacked Konoha all those years ago. The one that the Fourth died to seal away. He sealed it into you. Hell, you're the one that killed Iruka's parents. I honestly don't understand how he can stand to so much as look at you."

Before another word could escape his mouth, I started to form hand signs, Dog Snake Monkey Ox Tiger, "Demon Illusion: Tree Binding Death"

Mizuki turned stiff for a moment, hell, he was stiffer than the stiffy Uchiha.

I turned my weights off and flashed behind him, sticking a kunai through his neck.

The area was silent for a moment.

I wondered just how a Chunin like Mizuki could actually fall for such a Genjutsu. A teacher who had taught us how Genjutsu: Kai at that. Just more signs of the incompetence that Mizuki wrought. Did I feel bad about killing him… Should I? He was clearly a traitor that was spilling the village's secrets, so regardless I would not be getting into trouble. On top of all those reasons was the fact I was doing it for Naruto, and I would do anything to protect Naru-chan and Uke-chan, even if it meant killing people and chipping away at my heart. 

"You don't think you went a little bit too far Raishi?" Naruto asked, staring at the corpse before him in shock.

No, the way that he talked to you? He didn't deserve anything other than death. A longer, and more painful one at that, "He was a traitor, and he was probably going to try to kill all of us to keep his secret. Besides, he was obviously no good to the village, considering he wasn't intelligent enough to notice just what a great person you are Naru-chan, inside and out."

Naruto brightened up at that, despite the body that was in front of them.

Not a surprise, I think no matter what the situation was, someone acknowledging Naruto would always make him shine like the sun.

Iruka was not sure what to make of the situation. A Genin, a just graduated Genin, had attacked his former best friend and killed him. Surely, the Chunin would have been executed anyway for breaking the Third's Law, but for a Genin to do it, and not even flinch. Still, he gathered himself and turned to Naruto, "Raishi-kun is correct… You really are just a mischievous kid Naruto-kun, not a demon or anything of the sort. I also believe that you are a kid that earned this."

Iruka took his headband off and Naruto's goggles, tying the forehead protector around Naruto's forehead, "That Kage Bunshin was perfect, far beyond Academy level. You more than heard it. You pass Naruto."

Naruto glomped his sensei, and I just watched with a bright smile.

Naruto truly deserved nothing but moments like these.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited (D/M/Y): 13/10/2017
> 
> Edits Included: Phrasing things to make it flow a bit better, a few changes to wording and fixing some typos and grammar mistakes.


	4. The Test

"Uke-chan! Are you excited for today? ~" I sang toward my cousin was we both left the compound for the academy. Today was the day that we would be getting assigned teams. Sasuke just shot me a disgruntled look. He disliked the nickname externally, but inside I was absolutely sure that he loved it.

Way... way deep down inside his shriveled heart.

"Nothing to be excited about… It's just teaming announcement… I'll probably end up getting one of my fangirls or something, or someone that would hold me back." Sasuke spoke grumpily.

A gave him a teasing poke on the nose, "You are unhappy this morning. You're just jealous of my umbrella as always. I don't need you to tell me, I get it. You have to stand there in the sun; well I get all this wonderful shade."

He scowled but didn't say anything farther.

I pouted the rest of the way to the academy.

The day before had been pretty hectic. After we went to the Hokage to talk about what happened, I was questioned rather extensively. They wanted to make sure I was sane, not only that, but they also wanted to make sure I knew that I couldn't go around telling people Naruto's secret. Of course, I wouldn't, I was almost insulted that they thought I would do so. It was Naruto that they were talking about! I would do essentially anything to protect him as if I hadn't already proven that by killing Mizuki.

We got to the academy, and I took my usual place to the right of Shikamaru, Chouji was always to his left.

"It was a busy day yesterday, but guess what Shika-chan~! Naru-chan passed!" I gave him a small, delighted smile as I spoke the words. I knew that he didn't like, nor dislike Naruto, and was ultimately neutral on my praising the blonde, "So, who do you think the teams will be?"

"… Troublesome. Ino, Chouji, and I will make a team. You, Sasuke, and Naruto will make another, and finally, Shino, Hinata, and Kiba will make a team."

I thought them over; and it made a lot of sense, "Reasoning?"

I was curious after all.

Shikamaru gave a suffering sigh, but answered the question, "Ino-Shika-Cho is a tried and tested team formation, You and Sasuke along with Naruto is a balanced team, dead last with the rookie, but also you and Sasuke will be stuck together under someone with the Sharingan – I think his name was Kakashi or something. Finally, Shino, Hinata, and Kiba make a great tracking team."

"You're so smart Shika-chan~" I crowed toward him, and he gave me an unimpressed look.

"You could have figured it out yourself, urggghh… You're almost as lazy as me, I swear."

… That was actually somewhat true. I couldn't deny that. Sure, I wasn't anywhere near Nara lazy, but I definitely avoided hard work. I hated doing things that were too physically demanding, including Taijutsu. I barely even knew that academy style… I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly and grinned at him, "Aaaahhh~ You caught me."

"As if you were sneaky about it."

My friend knew me all too well.

When Naruto came in, there was an outburst by one of the fangirls, asking what he was doing there. Naruto just gave the biggest grin and said that he had finally heard his forehead protector and that he was now a shinobi.

He looked rather proud of himself, and I couldn't find it within myself to allow that to wilt.

Soon enough, two of my most hated enemies entered the classroom. Sakura, and Ino – both fangirls of the highest degree. Sakura especially was offensive, in the way that she treated Naruto, as the blonde did nothing but try to be nice toward her. Sakura immediately started to be rude toward Naruto; I kept a smile painted on my face.

"Your big brother complex for Naruto is way too strong," Shikamaru regarded, even as I tried to hide the want to rip Sakura to pieces.

I switched my masking smile into a pout, "You're so mean to me Shika-chan, you know I can't help it. Just look at how adorable he is! So innocent and he tries to be nice to nearly everyone. He is so determined as well… He deserves someone to look after him."

It wasn't the first time that they had this conversation.

"I know one thing for sure; I don't care what team I'm on, as long as I'm not on the same team as that lazy dumb!" Ino shouted suddenly, interrupting all the chatter in the classroom. I saw Shikamaru smirk a little bit before he laid his head down on the table. I would wager that he found the fact that Ino was going to be on his team after that little outburst to be quite amusing.

Chatter rose and fell, more excited interruptions as they all theorized whom their teammates would be.

"Quiet down! It's time for your team assignments. Before I give them out there, there is something that I would like to say." Iruka-sensei paused, looking at all the students before him, pride in his eyes, "I know that you will all become splendid shinobi of the leaf."

It was simple, but there was a lot of emotion and hope behind it. It was very touching, and I totally wasn't about to cry about it. Honestly, I didn't even come close. Shikamaru was just sending me weird sideways looks because he always does that.

Ultimately, Shikamaru's prediction panned out.

Team 7, Uchiha Sasuke, Uchiha Raishi, and Naruto Uzumaki under Hatake Kakashi.

All male teams were rare; I found it interesting that they had done it at all. Both Sasuke and I made sense, but I would have figured they would switch Naruto out for a girl. Don't get me wrong, I am more than happy about the fact that Naru-chan is on my team, but something didn't fit.

It was probably because of the Kyuubi. If something didn't make sense when it came to Naruto, from now on I was going to simply default to that answer.

…

We waited hours and still no sign of Kaka-sensei.

Naruto was impatient; all the extra energy that he had built up was making him practically bounce off the walls. Uke-chan was in stark contrast to this, brooding, resting his head on crossed fingers. Me? After the first hour, I took a little nap. I only awoke when Naruto came over and poked me a dozen times saying that he had heard someone approaching.

I was surprised, when who I assumed was our new sensei entered, only to get a hair full of chalk dust. It was somewhat hard to see, as the color mixed with his hair perfectly. I knew of course, who Kakashi Hatake was. He was in the Uchiha clan records a lot, along with history books. White hair, mask, one eye covered, underneath holding the Sharingan. The story behind the Sharingan he held was actually rather tragic. From what I could tell, that Obito was actually a close relative of mine in regards to blood – Not to mention he wasn't a stiffy, so Shisui had told me all about him.

"My first impression of you is…" The man paused, lifting his finger to his mouth in thought, "I hate you."

What a great start.

…

Everyone eventually made our way up to the roof where Kakashi requested we meet him. I opened my umbrella the second that the sun hit me, over the years I'd actually created a weakness for the sun – Having always covered myself when in it, my skin was incredibly fair. I burned especially easy. Luckily enough, I was a Medical Ninja in training, so I could treat myself for sunburn, but it was still an annoyance.

Sensei was there, leaning casually against the rails, "Why don't you guys introduce yourselves?"

"Kaka-sensei, shouldn't you show us how it is done?" I spoke, keeping my tone purposefully innocent.

The man dipped his head, "Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes… I have a few. My dislikes, well I guess I don't dislike that much. My hobbies are… Too adult for you. Finally my dream for the future, I guess I don't have one."

His eye pulled downward in some sort of smile. He felt sarcastic – but there was a sense of humor behind it that made me actually chuckle. It seemed like I would get along with my new sensei. He was definitely good at keeping his cards to his chest, as Shisui-nii had taught me.

"I'll go next I guess~ My name is Raishi Uchiha. My likes are reading; cloud watching, my umbrella, Naru-chan, Shika-chan, and Uke-chan. My dislikes include people who can't get past their emotions to see the facts and stiffy Uchiha. My hobbies are similar to my likes I suppose and my dream for the future… I never really thought about it. I guess that I really want to protect the people I care about and make sure they get their own dream." I finished with a smile toward my sensei, and the aforementioned people.

Naruto was practically jumping out of his seat by the time I'd finished, "Me next! Me next! I'm Naruto Uzumaki. My likes are ramen, and Raishi, I dislike the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook, and people who would hurt my friends. My hobbies are training. My dream for the future is to become Hokage and protect the village and all the people in it."

He sounded so determined.

I stared at him in slight awe, my being lightened and a wide smile crossing my face.

Sasuke let the silence continue for a moment before he made his own introduction, "I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I have a lot of likes and dislikes. My hobby is training, and my goal for the future is to rebuild my clan and kill a certain someone."

I fought the urge to sigh at the predictable dream; instead, I looked at my cousin with a teasing glint in my eye, "Rebuild our clan huh… Just how are you planning to do that? Got your eye on a special someone I don't know about?"

He actually blushed and looked a loss for words.

Naruto burst into laughter promptly enough; our sensei was definitely shaking lightly – Although he had not allowed a noise to escape him. I couldn't take it any longer and burst into snickers myself. It wasn't often that I found a tease that could get a reaction like that out of my stiffy cousin.

Kakashi took this chance to look over his potential new team. The blonde was a bit dim; Kakashi had been informed of this. Raishi Uchiha was weird for one of his clan; he seemed to smile, showed a full spectrum of emotions. The way that he looked to Naruto was interesting, especially when the blonde mentioned his dream. Sasuke was going to be a problem, Kakashi knew but was surprised by the little tease and how he responded to it. That meant the Uchiha wasn't beyond help – Less of a flight risk than anyone had thought. As for their skills, Sasuke was the one that was skilled, so the Academy Teachers had told Kakashi. Naruto was apparently pathetically below average for a Genin (The Hokage's fault for not letting Kakashi take him in like the silver-haired man wanted) and the other Uchiha was a mystery. Apparently, he had a good amount of skill in sometimes, but was just utterly uninterested in others and didn't bother to learn them – An assessment that didn't match the personality before him. Overall, it was a troubled situation.

"Well, I guess this is the point that I tell my potential students that you haven't actually passed and become Genin yet."

I expected something like this – Naruto, however, exclaimed at the top of his lungs, "WHAT!"

Sasuke seemed disgruntled as well.

"You have to survive my survival exam tomorrow to actually become a Genin. I know something that will scare the shit out of you, the actual pass rate. It's low. Only 66% of students actually end up passing this test." Kakashi said, misleading the ones before him and watching their reactions. Naruto and Sasuke seemed determined; well the one under the umbrella seemed thoughtful.

 _A dangerous sort of thoughtful_ , Kakashi carefully noted.

Kakashi was true in his thinking, as I  _was_  mulling over everything I'd learned about Genin teams throughout my years at the academy. There was no mention of a second test, but that was expected – A shinobi needs to keep secrets. I would simply be careful about just what this meant for me until I knew all the details.

Suddenly, I smiled, "I'm sure we can manage if we work together."

I knew that Sasuke would disagree with the notion – Believing that both Naruto and I would slow him down. Perhaps a thought that I was responsible for, having never actually made sure Sasuke was completely aware regarding my skill level.

"Regardless of any false determination you might have, the facts remain the same." Kakashi spoke, trying to dash any hope before it rose, "It's going to be a hellish day, so don't bother eating. You'll just throw it all up before you're done."

 _Liar_ , Raishi immediately pointed out internally, you needed to eat before any sort of training because of the calories you burned through. If you didn't eat enough a ninja could pass out. I am sure that Kakashi knew this, so why was he playing like a sly little shit. I was not appreciating the fact he was saying something so false toward my teammates who could actually hurt themselves if they didn't eat.

"Meet me at Training Ground Seven, tomorrow, 8:00 AM on the dot."

I was glaring at him as he used a Shunshin to vanish.

…

The next morning, I got dressed in my typical clothing and went off to the training field. I bought a few extra food rations because Uke-chan and Naru-chan were both idiots sometimes that needed me to kick them in the ass to get them to realize what was in front of their noses.

Shika-chan was nothing like that. Being around Shika-chan was much easier… I wouldn't trade either feeling for anything in the world, however.

I knew exactly what I looked like, refreshed, cool under my umbrella from the sun well feed. Both of my teammates looked like an utter nightmare. I knew almost for certain that Kakashi would be late, so I decided to let them learn their lesson on not taking care of themselves properly before I assisted them.

An hour later, and several stomach growls that could have woken the dead, I handed both of them a ration bar and a lecture, "You need calories as a shinobi. Every morning you will eat breakfast and you will eat all of your meals along with snacks throughout the day. If you don't…" I let a teasing sparkle lit my eye, "I'll definitely go over to the Hokage monument and paint the words 'Naruto and Sasuke love each other' all over it."

Both of them looked utterly gobsmacked by the words that left my mouth.

…

Kakashi showed up two hours later. I had taken the time to fall asleep for a little nap well standing up. It was a running problem for me; if I was bored, I just tended to sleep. Iruka was a big factor in it; in fact, you could say that he created that little trait. Perhaps it was part of the reason that Shika-chan and I got along so well, we both liked sleeping and cloud watching. Truly, though, I wasn't anywhere near as lazy as the Nara. Despite how I seemed sometimes, I knew that such a level of laziness was certainly something that I NEEDED to avoid at all costs.

"I see you're all here. Sorry about being so late, I went to the bookstore to get my favorite novel but they were all out, so I had to go around the entire village to find a new version of it. It wasn't the most fun morning."

I had heard that Kakashi Hatake was well known for giving ridiculous reasons for being late. Somehow, though, I believed this one.

In fact, I could relate to that. One time I was looking for a book on paralysis poisons and I had to go to every fucking bookstore and library in the whole village to find it. I think I napped with Shika-chan for a few hours after that.

"Anyway, let's get started. You have until this timer goes out. Since you seem to have eaten, I guess this lunch that I brought is less of a factor then it should be, but at the end of the time, one of you will be tied to this pole well the others eat lunch in front of them. The only way that you can actually pass is if you take these bells from me." Kakashi pulled out two bells and tied them to his waist, "Two of you will pass, one will fail, hence the fact that only 66% of people pass the Genin Exam."

My mind left me with whirling possibilities.

"If you want to get the bells, you'll have to come at me with intent to kill."

The words rang true. Kakashi was a legend in the ninja world. Even when trying to kill him, we still wouldn't get the bells. We never stood a chance.

That, if nothing else, made this test suspicious. It literally was not possible. Therefore, there had to be more to it. I could buy the fact that forces were working against Naruto to get him not to be on a team – but always, ALWAYS it was a four-man Genin Squad, one Jounin and three Genin for rookies. So two bells, trying to split us up? Annoying, as Sasuke and Naruto simply wouldn't work together. Individually I could get either of the two work with me, but the two mixed like water and oil. I should have tried harder to get them more comfortable with each other throughout the years. Now I was desperately wishing that I had actually put the effort into thinking about potential Genin teams before.

No use crying over spoiled milk, I suppose.

Naru-chan rushed forward before the test began, going straight for the bells. Kakashi stopped the blonde easily, but I could tell he seemed a little bit impressed by Naruto's 'cheating'.

"You got the right idea I see. Maybe try waiting until I say start this time, little fox." Kakashi said teasingly – Naruto scowled, but no sadness entered his eyes. If anything, he seemed happy that someone was, in good nature, teasing him about his affliction.

Good, if it made Naruto happy all the better.

Kakashi went from mildly amused to bored in half a second, "Alright, remember, when this bell rings we meet back here. Annnnndddd… Start."

Both Sasuke and I ran into the shadows and hide. Naru-chan did as well – For about half a second.

"You and me, right now! I bet I can beat you with one hand tied behind my back." Naruto suddenly exclaimed, looking rather sure of himself.

Naruto definitely needed help learning to play to his own strengths. Stealth and traps were actually Naruto's greatest asset, his creativity could shine in that aspect. Open warfare, despite fitting Naruto's personality, didn't suit his skill set. This was clearly something that I would have to do something about.

"You know… compared to the other two, you're a bit off." Kakashi suddenly said to the blonde 'shinobi'

"Clearly I've failed my friendship with Naru-chan…" I spoke softly, feeling an amused sort of horrified. I knew that Kakashi would not hurt Naru-chan that much, not with the Uzumaki being such a favorite of the Hokage. My prediction seemed to have been proven correct when Kakashi seemed to reach for a weapon, but instead pulled out a book.

I saw Naruto's expression, and could not hold in my laughter.

I fell to the ground, holding my stomach – and giving away my location. Undoubtedly, Kaka-sensei already knew where I was, but now my teammates knew as well.

By the time I had regained myself, the 'fight' had progressed.

Kaka-sensei was making the tiger seal from behind Naruto's back.

Without conscious thought, I turned my weights off, opened my fan placing it where the attack would hit, and replaced myself with Naruto. My knowledge of the fact Kaka-sensei would not actually hurt Naru-chan having deserted me, leaving me with only my instincts to protect those who meant something to me.

The attack was less of an attack as it was an embarrassment.

The attack hit my umbrella and sent me skidding a few feet; I quickly turned around with wide eyes – Honestly wondering just what the hell had happened. Kakashi's eye was wide as he looked at his fingers; they were bent out of shape.

"Maaamaaa~ Raishi-kun just what is that umbrella made of?" He gave one of those eye smiles as he said it, giving no sign of pain as he reached down and snapped his own fingers back into place. I was about to slip into a lecture about just how horrible that was for someone to do from a medical standpoint, the narrow and bone fragments being displaced in his hand which could cause – but then I remembered what had just happened.

"Hmmm~? What do you mean Kaka-sensei? ~ It is just a normal umbrella. Maybe if you weren't trying to naughty touch your own student's something like this wouldn't have happened." I gave the man a sly smile, and replaced myself with a branch in a tree in the forest, getting out of the clearing.

I quickly folded my umbrella and stuck it to my back using chakra. Quickly, I made my way deeper in, needing somewhere to think things over.

Once in cover, I tried to remain alert well slipping into my own thoughts. This test was not right, which I had thought before it had even begun, but what was the objective? Trying to create a fracture so that we could not use teamwork seemed the most likely. Was it too easy? Kakashi was a genius after all, what were the other possibilities. The hate against Naruto was great – No, the Hokage would not allow that, as much was clear after the way the old Hokage had talked to me the other day… There were no other reasonable explanations –

"Raishi-kun~ I heard that you are one of the best in the Academy, second only to Sakura Haruno when it comes to Genjutsu. Let's test that theory." I heard Kakashi, the second my name had come out of his mouth, I spun to face him, but the man had already made hand seals before I could get a work in edgewise.

"Demonic Illusion: Death Mirage Jutsu"

Frankly, using such a low Genjutsu on me was practically insulting.

It was far more insulting, however, to compare me to Sakura Haruno of all people – Then to say that she was better than I was?

Shisui-nii had said that pride was the downfall of many an Uchiha, but this?! That was just too much. I was my brother's brother BROTHER! If anything, Kakashi should compare me to Shisui-nii, not to useless, fangirl, SAKURA, of ALL PEOPLE.

I released the Genjutsu before it could even take effect, "You shouldn't underestimate people sensei~" I practically sang to the man, "I'm actually better than Sakura – For some reason, people seemed under the impression that I was not as good because I slept in class all the time. I am honestly feeling a little bit insulted right now. Because of the slight you made on my person you should let me go Kaka-sensei~ I have to go meet up with my wayward teammates and try to scavenge this little test."

"Hmmm…" Kakashi hummed, appearing to think it over, I got in position to run as I listened to what he had to say, "I should think not."

I took off running.

Kakashi was suddenly in front of me, I reached toward my back and grabbed my umbrella, swinging it sideways in an attempt to get him in the ribs, he disappeared and I hit the tree, causing it to splinter.

My sight faded to black.

…

Kakashi stared at the Uchiha laid before him.

Then he looked up to where the umbrella had hit the tree and winced. Had that attack hit, his ribcage would have been shattered into a million pieces, at least, had it not been augmented with chakra. Kakashi reached down and grabbed the umbrella beside the fallen male. As he tried to pick it up, his eyes widened in surprise. The damn thing was heavy – and the slight Uchiha carried it around as if it was nothing?

It was not an issue for Kakashi to pick it up, but it was a whole other issue that Raishi could wield it like that – Walk around with the umbrella as though it were no different from a typical sun umbrella. The Genin would have had to be training with it for years before he had reached such a level.

Even Kakashi could not walk around with something like this and show no strain on his muscles.

He was fast too. Of course, the downed child was not Jounin fast, but low-Chunin sounded about right. How Raishi Uchiha's academy record could be so wrong was baffling. It occurred to Kakashi that the young Uchiha could have just been hiding his skill level, but Kakashi discarded it.

It was more a factor of the instructors looking more heavily at the bad, and paying no mind to the good. Kakashi had noticed the fact Raishi seemed almost out of breath from just the little fight that they'd had – Replacing Naruto, running into the forest, hiding, and then the little scuffle… Low stamina for sure, but acceptable, especially considering the Genin's skill in Genjutsu, Speed, and that weapon of his.

Speaking of that little replacement with Naruto, there was still a dull pain in Kakashi's fingers despite the fact he had used his minuscule amount of healing jutsu on them. Hitting that umbrella with a chakra enhanced finger was NOT a good idea. He had been impressed that the Uchiha cared so much for his teammate – He also hinted to having figured out the test… Too bad, he would not get the chance to find his teammates and inform them

There was no time for farther musings, so Kakashi placed the umbrella down with its owner and went off to find his next victim.

…

When I woke up, the bell was ringing and my head was screaming in pain.

My whole body was. I grabbed my umbrella and placed it on my back.

I walked toward the place we were meant to meet up again, all the while healing myself. I finished rather quickly – there had been no actual wounds, just soreness after all. Upon reaching the starting place, I saw Naru-chan tied up to a pole, Uke-chan behind him, and Kaka-sensei waiting for us.

"Raishi-kun we were waiting for you." There was a note of disapproval in the Jounin's voice.

I just gave a sarcastic smile, "Don't give out what you can't take."

I was pretty unhappy about the fact he knocked me out. If he had not, my team would be Genin right now, I was sure of this fact. Therefore, I did not so much as take another glance toward the Jounin, "Naru-chan, Uke-chan, are you two okay?"

"Hn."

"I'm fine Raishi, dattebayo!"

They were lying to me.

I had been going to heal them – finally showing the skill I'd been keeping under wraps, instead, I decided that the little mild pain wouldn't have them keeling over. Maybe next time they would not lie to me. I sat near the pole opposite side of Sasuke and finally turned toward Kakashi.

"Now that we're all together again, we can discuss your results." The man clapped his hands once, his voice cheerful, "You failed so hard that you should quit being shinobi."

"Let me off of this pole and I'll get those bells no problem!" Naruto said, squirming around.

Kakashi seemed bored at this point, settling on a lecture, "This was a test of teamwork, but you couldn't get past your own egos. Raishi-kun seemed to notice but wasn't strong enough to get past me to actually help his teammates. All and all, you simply aren't worth the effort to turn into something usable."

"We're humans, not objects," I spoke up, disliking the way phrased things.

Sasuke glanced my way in surprise, I knew why. He thought me to be at least somewhat intelligent despite my usually sunny and teasing disposition. So, by that logic, he assumed that I knew shinobi were not much more than tools. No one understood my cousin's thought process better than me. However, I knew what shinobi really were. As long as you did it right, you were human. As with any human, you could make mistakes, you had emotions – Ultimately, you were not just 'something usable'.

Kakashi did not say anything to my comment, but Naruto seemed to nod along with what I said.

Kakashi grabbed Sasuke and held a kunai to his throat before any of us could even move, "Kill Naruto or I'll kill Sasuke."

I could feel myself glaring, I could feel the chakra leak into my eyes, and my whole body was tensed beyond anything I would felt before. I wanted to rip Kakashi's eyes out for what he was doing; even the idea of being put in a situation like this was practically pushing me to the edge of my sanity.

I could not allow Sasuke to see me like that.

I immediately calmed down and smiled at my sensei, "I'd like to see what the Hokage would think about that particular ultimatum. Even if it worked, I would only end up getting to see the fulfilling sight of you getting your head ripped off in public execution."

Was a smile appropriate for what I had said? Probably not, but at least I stopped myself from spewing killing intent across the field. The last thing in this world that I needed was for Uke-chan to look at me as though I were similar to Itachi. Besides, this was not the first time my 'Uchiha blood' had taken over; I was much more prepared for the prospect this time.

Kakashi could practically fell the executioners blade on his neck after the comment from Raishi, and allowed Sasuke to drop back to the ground, "It still proved my point, no matter how fictional the choice – Those are the types of things you might one day have to decide. Teamwork is the most important part of being a Konoha Shinobi. A good friend once told me this before he lost his life trying to protect me and my other teammate, 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those that abandon their comrades are worse than trash' and I now live by those words. Any team headed by me, they will be expected to as well."

I had originally thought that Kakashi was quite the joker, despite knowing that he was such a famous shinobi. Those words showed me quite the different side of the man. I could not help but like that side of him as well. That was the type of person you would want to be the person who would protect your back in dangerous missions.

"I'll give you one more chance. You two will eat, do not feed or untie Naruto, and when I come back, we will start the test over. If I find out that you have cheated, it won't be pretty."

With that – Kakashi poofed away.

Immediately I pulled out a ration bar and opened it, stuffing it into Naruto's mouth without a word and going back to eating my meal as if it never happened.

It was an extremely fast movement, but despite the fact that I wanted to pass the test, despite the fact that I wanted to be a Genin, I wouldn't do so if it put Naru-chan's life in danger, and fighting without eating at Naruto's metabolism? He could do it for a while, but nowhere near as long as a normal shinobi. That was part of the reason Naruto craved ramen no doubt – He needed the extra carbs and his body was self-treating itself. No one knows what you need like your own body – Many medical tests said that, and I tended to agree.

Sasuke noticed what I did, and did not talk about it either, just went back to eating his own food.

Naru-chan also did not comment, probably because his mouth was still too full as he tried to find some way to actually chew the full calorie bar that had been stuffed into his mouth.

…

"You pass." Where the first words I heard the second Kakashi showed back up.

"… We didn't even start the test yet. Oh man, this was the best. I didn't even need to get back up." I felt a smile creep across my face as I let myself relax into the ground, "So, why did we pass?"

I had done a lot of thinking in this exam already, might as well let the man explain it – Why bother looking for answers if someone was just giving them out?

"You feed your teammate despite the fact it was against the rules. You helped him, knowing full well that it could mean you were dropped from the shinobi program. This definitely means you meet my requirements for being a member of my team. Remember what I said about trash and what makes a person a good comrade. Otherwise, you'll end up like all the other heroes on this monument."

Kakashi poofed away dramatically.

I pouted toward where he was standing, "Man, I wanted to ask him about the book he was reading earlier."

As I spoke, I reached up and cut Naruto's bindings, immediately the blonde jumped up and down in triumph, Uke-chan looked every bit as happy, although not quite as open about it. I let the joy sink into me; these were the moments I became a shinobi to protect.

"I think it was called Icha Icha," Naruto informed me as he calmed down.

I had never heard of it before, I wondered if it was a good read. With that in mind, I turned toward the direction of the bookstore, "Thank Naru-chan~! I am going to go see what is in the book, should be interesting. You two want to come? Should tell us something interesting about our new sensei…"

Naru-chan immediately took off and stood next to me as we left. It did not take but a few seconds for Sasuke's curiosity to win out, as he followed us down the forbidden path.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited (D/M/Y): 13/10/2017
> 
> Edits Included: Grammar issues, a few flow issues, and a few word choices were changed.


	5. The Council

We met in the same training grounds the morning after Kakashi had accepted us. Kaka-sensei did not show up for a few hours, but for the most part, we had been expecting that. Uke-chan most specifically started up a conversation with me. It had not been something that I thought he would bring up with Naru-chan around, but that just gave me a little bit of hope for Sasuke's mentality. Soon enough Naruto started to run around the field to get rid of excess energy, and I watched him with a smile.

"You have your Sharingan," Sasuke stated, not bothering beating around the bush.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye, "Mhmm~"

If he wanted answers, he would have to ask the questions.

"When did you get it?" Uke-chan eventually asked after a long pause. I had the feeling that it was an answer he already knew.

Should I lie to him? It would be easy enough to, and the last thing I wanted was for the facts to backtrack his progress with me. Over the years he had become much more open – but gaining the Sharingan so much quicker than him might ignite some amount of jealousy.

"The night of the massacre. That's why I asked you that night, I had assumed you have gained it as well." I confessed, thinking that had I lied, Uke-chan would find out one day, and the fallout from that would be much worse.

"…" Sasuke stayed quiet for a moment, He seemed almost lost in thought, "Raishi, since we're of age now, someone needs to take on the Uchiha Estates as Clan Head."

"That's true, seeing as how the last one was your father, you are next in line. Congratulations~ I'm sure those council meetings will be extremely fun." I got a real chuckle out of the idea of Sasuke sitting in that room, his childish brooding and impatient to train being written all over his face.

"It doesn't have to be me." Sasuke announced suddenly, turning to face me full on, "It's a position that wouldn't fit me, and I don't want it. I have more important goals to focus on. It will be nothing more than a chore… Besides, I do not even have the Sharingan; I do not deserve the place anyway. You though, you could make a good first step in your dream if you do it."

This was sudden and more than unexpected.

It hadn't even occurred to me that this could be a possibility.

The position that it would place me in was precarious. I didn't know a whole lot about the village politics, clan laws, or expectations a position like that would have. Never mind the fact I was only twelve, even if I was ready for a responsibly like that – All the people in that room would be trying to manipulate me. It would be a mind field I was stepping on without a map when everyone else had the Byakugan.

"If you don't take it, I'll have to… Either that or letting it fall to someone else on the council and they would split the estate. I'd rather they have it all than to take the seat myself. A choice needs to be made by the end of the week."

Way to put the pressure on.

"Why are you guys being so serious? I knew teme is like that a lot, but I thought you knew better Raishi! Dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed, suddenly coming closer to us. Before I turned toward the blonde, I spoke one last thing on the matter with my cousin.

"I'll think about it… I need to study and know what it would entail."

Sasuke gave me a small smirk, "I would expect nothing less."

"Sorry about that Naru-chan~ Would you believe that sometimes even I need to get serious?" I teased him with a quirk of the lips.

"It's fine, as long as you don't turn into the Teme." He shot Sasuke a dark look – but as always there was a deeper meaning in the look, something I couldn't reach. Whatever was between the two of them had weird undertones that I didn't understand. Ever since we were eight, it had been like that.

…

Kakashi showed up soon after, a cheerful half wave, "Hello my cute little Genin. We are going to do a few things today. First, we are going to go over what our skills are. However, I want each of you to introduce someone else. Naruto will introduce Sasuke, Raishi will introduce Naruto, and Sasuke will introduce Raishi. Afterwards, the individual can fill in anything that the other missed."

It was a good way to gauge how well they knew each other.

"Naru-chan has a loooot of chakra~ I taught him some basic chakra control but it basically means nothing considering how much he has. His Ninjutsu is low, but he has an incredible ability to learn it when it's taught, he learned the Kage Bunshin in an hour from a scroll. His Taijutsu isn't that good, but that's because he was taught wrong. His Genjutsu isn't good, that's has a lot to do with his chakra problem. His best skills are in stealth and trapping. He's beyond impressive in those areas."

I tossed Naruto a peace sign and the blonde grinned back at me at the even-toned review I had given him. I knew that it was far better than anything he had been given before.

"Alright, Naruto, you introduce Sasuke now."

Naru-chan's face screwed in thought, throwing a little glare Uke-chan's direction before opening his mouth, "Teme is good with Taijutsu and Ninjutsu… Genjutsu too I guess… He's pretty smart as well."

Slim, but Naruto was able to go get over his dislike of Sasuke in order to give some semblance of an answer.

"Alright Sasuke, you next."

"Raishi is book smart and good at Genjutsu, as well as having activated his Sharingan," Sasuke said, but after thinking it over, realize that he didn't know anything more about his cousin's skills.

I was somewhat proud of that fact. Sasuke seemed rather discontent with it.

Kakashi thought it over, it was clear that Raishi was quite good at hiding his skills if his own cousin wasn't aware of the majority of his ability. They lived in the same compound after all – It couldn't have been easy for Raishi to hide, "Alright, do any of you have something else to add to your introductions?"

Naruto shook his head no; I had done more than an adequate job after all.

This was Naru-chan and Uke-chan, plus our new sensei, they would need information on my skills, and "Sure, I got a few things to add. Therefore, my Taijutsu is absolute shit and so is my stamina. My main ability lies in planning ahead and figuring things out, along with Genjutsu, Speed, and Iryō Ninjutsu. Oh yeah~ My umbrella is actually a weapon."

"Ehh!? It looks like just a normal umbrella!" Naruto exclaimed, looking the thing over.

I gave a chuckle and tossed it over to him.

Naruto caught it, and his arms slammed into the ground.

He regained himself and tried to hold it up, but struggled to even get off the ground. It was practically Naruto's determination alone that was allowing him to continue on despite the way his muscles quivered, I was knowledgeable enough on Naru-chan to know this.

"Iryō Ninjutsu?" Sasuke said in surprise, having never heard of an Uchiha using healing methods.

"Mhmm~ I figured I would end up with a few idiots for teammates that would need it."

"Hn." Sasuke uttered, internally almost amused by the banter.

Kakashi was also surprised at the fact his new student had chosen Iryō Ninjutsu as something to specialize in. Despite how useful their Doujutsu would be in those fields, neither Uchiha nor Hyuuga ever went into the field. Their clan pride had always prevented them from it. Somehow, though, Kakashi doubted it was the fact that Raishi no longer had a clan that led him down that path. The Uchiha was simply different.

I walked over toward my umbrella and swung it onto my back, giving Naruto a fond pat on the head.

"Anything to add to your introduction Sasuke?"

"… I have a few fire jutsu, my clans Taijutsu style, and no Genjutsu, although I can release them well." An accurate portrayal of his skills. It actually lessened the impact that Naruto's introduction had, thusly proving that my Naru-chan truly thought well of my cousin.

"Alright! Now that we all know each other's skills well enough, it's time to start doing missions."

Naru-chan was practically jumping up and down in excitement, "So what are we doing first, fighting enemy shinobi, saving a princess, helping another country?"

"You're so adorable Naru-chan~," I said, carding my hand through his hair. He glared at me for it, but I couldn't help myself, he was honestly just too adorable.

Kakashi seemed somewhat similar in the fact he just gave Naruto an evil grin.

…

Our first D-rank was actually not that bad. Just a little supply run. Naru-chan was pouting about it, and Sasuke seemed pretty annoyed himself. Kakashi was on the same boat as me – both of us were amused. I was actually a little bit surprised that Sasuke hadn't known about D-ranks.

We were all walking back to the Hokage's office when I turned toward Kaka-sensei with a raised eyebrow, "By the way~ After you accepted us yesterday I went to the bookstore."

Both Sasuke and Naruto had turned a bright red and seemed to want to be anywhere but where they were. I got a good laugh out of the reaction they had yesterday when I read a few lines of the book aloud. I had been pretty surprised by Naruto's reaction, considering his own pervert based jutsu.

"When I called you out on wanting to dirty touch your students during the test I didn't know you were an actual pervert." I pulled out the Icha Icha novel that I bought and held it up for full reference, "Never mind the fact some of this stuff just plain isn't possible, biologically speaking – Never mind the appalling writing style. The book is utterly lacking… I guess a pervert like Kaka-sensei doesn't care about those things, huh~?"

Kakashi had stuttered his walking to a halt, staring at his most devious student. It was actually embarrassing being called out like this, although he quickly buried that feeling. Sure, his comrades had done so before, but they weren't adorable young Genin.

"So I was thinking about maybe finding some female Jounin and going up to them and showing them this book – I thought – If I just tell them my sensei was making me read it…" I suddenly shot a sly smile in Kakashi's direction, "I probably wouldn't get the chance to do something like that if my sensei showed up on time so that he could train me and my teammates correctly."

This little devil… Kakashi thought, dreading not only accepting this team but also learning just what was alongside that sunny personality. It wasn't so much that Raishi hides his talent in playing sly, but just that he didn't use it much if Kakashi had to guess. Still, this little manipulation wouldn't go unpunished, if Kakashi had to show up on time, then his little Genin would enjoy having a lot more D-ranks to get through after their 'training'.

"Maamaa, I see your point Raishi-kun, you don't need to continue holding the book up," Kakashi said, suddenly very aware of his surroundings.

"I thought you might see it my way." I put the book in my leg pouch, much like Kakashi kept his, "I can't wait to see what you teach us Kaka-sensei."

Naruto and Sasuke both watched the by-play in a wondered sort of shock. Naruto suddenly looked up to his only friend a lot more than he had before – and he already inwardly worshiped the ground his first friend walked on. Sasuke, on the other hand, wanted to know who taught his cousin that, such abilities weren't natural… But if it got them training… Sasuke didn't mind, as long as it wasn't being used again him.

…

On the way home, I had a lot to think about.

Sasuke's earlier request sat heavy on my mind.

Ultimately, I wasn't that enthusiastic about being politically active. Especially when I would only have a week to prepare, and not preparing properly for something like this would be foolhardy. Still, the idea had its own merits, I could admit this. It put me in a better position to protect both Naru-chan and Uke-chan. Shika-chan didn't need my protection, so that wasn't placed in the consideration. It would also help me reach my own dream, of helping everyone else get their dream. Naru-chan would need people in the council that he could trust when the time came for him. If I didn't take the position, Sasuke made it clear he wouldn't either, leaving the estate to the greedy people of the council.

I would have to accept, there simply wasn't another option.

…

When both Sasuke and I had gotten home, I turned toward him, "I'll do it – but you are helping me at least gather all the books I'll need to read."

Uke-chan gave me a genuine smile, relief in his gaze. I had not thought he was being weighed down by something like this. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised – he did come from a long line of stiffy Uchiha, he probably had it breed into him that being clan head was his future and something he was meant to do – Despite Sasuke's own distaste for the job.

It took hours to go through the Uchiha archives to find everything about our laws, the village laws, and just the political information on the Elemental Nations in general.

In the end, we had about twenty books for me to read before I needed to actually step up.

I didn't hate reading. If anything, I liked reading on subjects that I enjoyed. This… This wasn't something I was going to enjoy. It's about five books a day, in between missions and training from Kaka-sensei. I probably should have withheld on the blackmail until after this week. Granted, I had not known it would be such an intense week for me.

Uke-chan was giving me a look of pity.

I stuck my tongue out at him and carried all the texts into my house.

…

I woke up the next morning and wasted no time getting ready, grabbing three books to bring with me as I went to the meeting spot, reading one of those books as I went.

Kakashi was already there, and I was only a fourth through the first book.

"First things first Taijutsu practice!"

I would eventually learn to kill my sensei, nothing would stop me. He was doing this on purpose, the way his eyes were straying over to me was incredibly telling. I was knowledgeable in the best way to deal with people who were purposely trying to upset you though, I smiled, I looked at him as though I were thankful, "Kaka-sensei already is trying to help me strengthen my weakness~ I have the best sensei ever."

 _'Kill yourself sensei'_  I thought, giving the man a smile.

If I was going to be forced to do Taijutsu, I might as well heighten my weights so I could get more from it.

I was getting even more aggravated when Naru-chan and Uke-chan showed up and were  _happy_  about the training.

We were then put through reps, physical conditioning, and kata. My skin was practically melting off my muscles, by the time we were done, I was just lying on the ground panting, trying not to move. In contrast, Naru-chan and Uke-chan were panting, but were standing straight and seemed to want more.

I forced myself to lift my arms and start to heal myself. If anything, the practice in this would be welcome, plus my knowledge was going to save me, because Kakashi was looking at me with sadistic eyes, "Sensei… I do not think it is healthy for me to do more of this. If I push myself more than this, I could seriously hurt my muscles."

It was true, but not to the fullest extent. I could heal the damage at least partly and do more, but I would not tell him that. I had more important things to do – Like reading. Taijutsu practice was just as mind-numbing as I'd always assumed it would be. It was boring, horribly boring, no thinking involved. Anyone could do it, and maybe my problem with Taijutsu was egotistical in a way. I never professed my thoughts on the matter aloud and never would.

Kakashi nodded, but I got the feeling he knew I was lying.

Oh well, as long as I got what I wanted. I spent an hour and a half doing Taijutsu, that was more time then I'd ever spent on the skill collectively.

I sat down and started to read, waiting for the others to finish training so that we could do a mission.

…

The schedule had been created.

Get ready, read on the way to practice, practice Taijutsu and physical conditioning, read, mission, read, eat, read, and sleep.

It was working too; I had read all the books that needed reading a full day before I needed to finish them. This left me time to rest – I needed it. I was mentally tired, physically exhausted, I had never worked so hard in my life. Originally, I thought being a Genin would not be all that hard – I was wrong.

Regardless, I learned a lot of needed information and wrote down key information in my own little book.

The Konoha Council was made of a representative of each of the major village clans, each power of economy, the Hokage's advisors, the ANBU commander, and anyone else that was needed for a specific meeting. The only ones that were mandatory were the clan heads and the Hokage.

As far as being Clan Head, all I needed to do was show up and swear to attempt to make decisions that were to the most benefit toward Konoha.

In the Clan itself, being Clan Head meant that you had the ultimate power. Within the Uchiha, there was only the Clan Head and advisors. Some clans had councils – Places were things were put to vote and other people could enforce their opinion. Not in within the Uchiha though. There was a highly respected Elder Council, but they were just considered more 'advisors' although some of the Clan Heads gave them more power than they actually had.

Tomorrow was bound to be a busy day. Despite all the knowledge I had gained, I knew that I did not hold any cards. The one card I had was that the people in that room would underestimate me – Attempt to manipulate me. Since I knew that it was coming, I had the advantage there. It would be best to play on that.

A strategy could wait until tomorrow.

…

That morning, I had gone to training just like usual. Before Kakashi's hell, Taijutsu training could begin, and ANBU appeared.

Both Uke-chan and I got whisked away to the council meeting before Kakashi or Naruto could get in a word edgewise.

The meeting room was stuffy and filled with familiar people. I could see the way the clan heirs in our graduating class descended from quite easily. They all looked a great deal like their parents. The Hokage was also quite clear, sitting at the head of the table, looking quite regal, nothing like what I remembered him being like around Naru-chan.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm sorry to put this pressure on you, but we need to know your decision." The Hokage put sternly, but not unkindly, it was clear he had sympathy for what he was going to be potentially putting Uke-chan into. This was something that made my respect for the man rise quite a bit, and I already respected him a lot because of everything he did for Naru-chan.

"I choose not to take the seat, in my stead, my cousin Raishi Uchiha has agreed to take the place of Uchiha Clan Head."

Uke-chan spoke clearly, but there was a hint of impatience there. It was just like him, to want to hurry this along so that he could get back to training. I was somewhat worried about his lack of presentation to some of the most powerful people in the village, but really it just went to show how horribly he would have done had he not given the job of Clan Head to me.

"… Are you sure of his decision both of you?" Hokage spoke, seeming hesitant.

In all likelihood, the Hokage thought I was a little bit naive. I couldn't blame him; I did come off that way – mostly on purpose. Sasuke on the other hand just seemed like the clear-cut option as better able to protect themselves in a situation like this. Even though the reality was quite the opposite. Sasuke was much easier to manipulate than I was. Just mentioning a certain Weasel and he was off like a water bullet.

"I studied and everything~ He better be sure."

Sasuke just nodded along to what I had said, "Can I go train now?"

He was very blunt, but it had actually proved the point he wanted to be made. This sort of thing held no interest to him – He wasn't one for mind games. What Sasuke wanted was to get stronger, and it was that simple. This would have been just a distraction.

"You are dismissed." The Third said to Sasuke before calling me over, "Raishi-kun, please come over here to be sworn in."

The rest of the clan heads and economic powers were pretty silent thus far. I could think of a few things that went through their heads, some of them wanted to protect me some of them wanted to use me for my power, typical things. I already knew it would happen, though I hadn't expected just how heavy the atmosphere would be. I pretended I did not notice however and practically pranced toward the Hokage, stopping right before him with a tilt of the head.

"Do you swear to only work on the best intentions toward this village and everyone in it?" The Hokage's tone no longer held kindness, but steel that I could admire – The man that I knew protected Naru-chan the best he could.

Someone worth the loyalty.

"I swear it."

"You are now the Uchiha Clan Head, please take your seat, the one between the Nara Clan and the Hyuuga Clan was typically belonging to the Uchiha."

The seat placement was weird. Nara clan was one thing, but placing the Uchiha and Hyuuga next to one another despite the fact they were passively aggressive toward one another for most of their history was just plain … I don't have a good word for it, but it wasn't right.

I didn't complain, however. I had no intention of continuing my ancestor's mistakes as Head.

You would think it was harder to become a part of this council that decided the village's future. Just a small word on how you promised to protect the village was nothing. It was powerful though, it almost felt as though the Hokage could see through you in that moment. I definitely believed there was something more to it, something I could not see.

Nothing for it. It was just a distraction to think of that right now.

"Uchiha-sama, you are extremely young. When I heard that Sasuke-sama was going to either join or lose the estate, I was quite concerned about his mental state. I'm glad that you decided to step forward, should you need any help, don't hesitate to call on me. You probably need someone to help you anyway, you would have never had someone teach you the laws that you need knowing now."

It was some nameless economy power. A civilian that was too big for their own boots, that's what the economy powers were. A nice way to include civilians so that they didn't grow to hate the village they worked within.

"Awwwwh~ Thank you so much for thinking of me and my cousin. I think I can handle it though like I said, I studied a lot!" I gave the man a thumbs up, "I am actually pretty smart~ You don't have to worry about me."

There was a glint of hidden dislike in those eyes.

I'd caught him~ Whom did the fool think he was playing with? A normal kid most likely, however much like most ninja that were notable in intelligence, I'd matured and grown too fast to be considered just a mere child.

"Attention! The only order of business today is the academy schedule. Several complaints were put in by the teachers that they were being restrained unnecessarily in their curriculum. Specifically, they were not able to teach stealth or Ninjutsu to the amount that they believed would help lessen the casualty factor in Genin. The motion is that a Jounin comes in and reworks the current system to better save lives."

The Clan Heads seemed almost resigned for some reason. Why? It didn't make much sense, shouldn't this motion be a good thing.

"Raise hands if you against the notion."

All the economic powers raised their hands; I counted and realized just what the problem was. Without me, the economic powers had more votes than the Clan Heads.

What a sticky situation, I could practically feel the manipulation incoming, "Uchiha-sama, there is a reason why we have been keeping this notion from going through these past years. Don't you remember all those people that lagged behind in the academy a little bit? They need more leeway; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to pass. My daughter is one example, Sakura Haruno."

Haruno Senior? Automatically that made me dislike her.

I lifted my finger toward my chin as though in thought, "I guess… If they cannot keep up with the rest of the class, then they really should not be a ninja. Otherwise, they would just end up dead in the real world, and that's the problem, no matter what, we just end up with the same amount of people when the ones that shouldn't have passed just die."

It was a bleak, but true outlook. The room was quickly coming to realize my intelligence card. It was something though, that I had chosen to show. Five minutes in this room, and I already knew I would not be able to take being underestimated by these people.

The motion passed, all the ninja were quite happy with this. Good, less dead people was better for the village, it would make it a better place when Naruto eventually became Hokage.

The meeting ended quickly, and I had my first taste of what was in store for me these next few years.

I did not notice the several eyes that were on me as I left.

Darkness had always been closing in, but I had not expected my actions today to make me the prime target.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited (D/M/Y): 13/10/2017
> 
> Edits Included: Grammar issues and typos.


	6. The Decompression

Shisui-nii said in his book:  _Calming down for a moment, stepping back from all of life's stressors is important. As shinobi, we are pushed into moment after moment of tension and heartbreak. We do this for a reason, but as I said before, you need to walk the line. Human's cannot become too stress before they break. A stiffy Uchiha is a broken down Uchiha if nothing else._

I had various ways of calming down and taking a step back.

I liked reading and watching the clouds with Shika-chan, and… Well, that was actually the only thing that I did when I needed to decompress. It was fine though because Shikamaru was always just … There. I never needed another way to deal with things. It had been a few days since my first meeting, and I was still tired in the fall out of it all. I needed to get things off my chest; I was not the type to keep things in like this.

Keeping skills and important information to yourself was great, Shisui-nii had told me to after all.

He had not told me just how lonely an existence it was – Keeping everything to yourself.

Some of the things Shisui-nii said contradicted themselves. Keep your cards to yourself, but also find a way to decompress yourself from everything? Walk the line between shinobi and human, but be careful about who you give your emotions to? Shisui-nii had written such difficult advice.

Therefore, I stayed quiet and tried to find friends. I did, Naru-chan, Shika-chan, Uke-chan, to name them, but I needed someone to confess to.

I was starting to think that the one I wanted to share things with was Shikamaru.

Overall, he was the most likely to understand my choices, to give me solid advice… To not betray me, intentionally or otherwise.

As always, Shika-chan was easy to find. His cloud watching space hadn't changed in years, in the sun, but right near the shade of a large tree. He was just there, lounging in the sun, arms behind his head and looking up at the sky, his face graced with a small smile. When he was outside of a relaxing situation like this, his eyes would squint just a little, thousands of thoughts running through his head, rushing to be put through analysis. Similar to me, he knew when to take a step back and relax so he did not get completely overwhelmed by the strength and surge in his thoughts.

I sat down next to his head, in the shade, and placing my umbrella on the ground.

I turned my head upward, not speaking, just watching the clouds go by.

Five minutes went by the way.

"You're team?" I asked, my tone soft, not breaking the atmosphere.

"… Chouji is the same as ever, Ino is just as troublesome as I thought she'd be, Asuma-sensei understands me though, and he plays shogi with me too." His tone remained lazed through the explanation, but I knew Shika-chan for nearly four years now. I understood all the things he was just vaguely glossing over, "You?"

"Uke-chan and Naru-chan are the same as ever, deep in denial over each other." They were, after all. Those emotions that they held for one another were clear to anyone who was actually looking, and I had been watching over those two for years, "Kaka-sensei is interesting, he has a lot of potential weak points to exploit, but I hit one, and the man became the devil. He's been making us do Taijutsu and Physical Conditioning. It's been a bad week."

"Tou-san told me about you taking Clan Head," Shikamaru said, cutting through the bullshit and getting to what I really wanted to talk about.

He was good at that.

"It's was pushed on me a week before I needed to accept. I guess you could say I haven't had the best week. Something like this is definitely not something you should be thrown into. You HAVE to know certain things, and there's going to be so much manipulation."

"You like the mental games." Shika-chan groused.

Did I? In a way, I suppose I did. It was stressful, more so than any of the things I'd done in my life, but that didn't mean I was blind to the fact I thought of it as a game. I referred to the pieces as 'cards' after all. It was a dangerous game, but a game non-the-less. Watching someone try to get the best of me, only to fail, was an amazing feeling. It gave me a genuine smile, a feeling of accomplishment, "Ahhhhh~ Shika-chan caught me again. I would definitely take The Game over Taijutsu practice any day."

I hadn't even known that about myself until he pointed it out.

"Sometimes I think you forget that I know you just as well as you know me."

"I would never~ I remember everything about Shika-chan," I stated, pretending to be offended.

Shikamaru knew that of course, if my feelings had ever actually been hurt, he would know, "It's troublesome, but I highly doubt that's all you can here for."

I gave a light sigh, "You called it when you said that I like The Game. Still, I'm a bit worried. I don't have the resources compared to the others. I'm in a precarious situation. If I don't start to rebuild resources quickly, I could end up being undercut as a Clan and be cut from the council. The Uchiha Clan has enough resources to be considered a power for a year or so at most. I need members, money, and something to offer the village."

Shika turned away from the sun and sat up, facing toward me, with a raised eyebrow as he waited for me to continue.

"In the past, the Uchiha worked as the 'police' for Konoha. We can no longer do that, we only have two members. In addition, there aren't many options for two people to help the village as a whole. Ultimately, I'm going to have to adopt members into the clan – Even then, being police no longer fits the 'Clan' as it once did. A new idea will need to be created. Simply put, I have no ideas as to what would qualify." I gave a sigh, I didn't mention any of this to Uke-chan, the trouble we were in would make him, internally as it was, feel guilty over putting me in the position, "This, added to the fact I don't have enough information on the individuals that I'm going to be working against – Mainly the economic powers. That's going to take a lot of recon on my part, although I need to wait until they reveal which of them will be my enemy. I dislike the waiting aspect, it makes me antsy. As for the member problem, we need at least five members to be considered a Clan, there is a 10 year limit on having less than that before the Clanship is dissolved."

"You've got a lot on your plate, huh?" Shikamaru said before he laid back down, patting the space next to him. I laid myself diagonal to him, turning to study his upturned face, "The clan member adoption part isn't strictly speaking important for you. It's the most troublesome part that you need to focus on first, what your clan can offer the village. Considering your family Dojutsu, you probably have a lot of jutsu that aren't common or even know here. That should put you in a safe space for years."

… Damn, that was good.

Why didn't I think of that? Damn, I was such an idiot sometimes. Of course, that was part of the reason it had been such a good idea to come to Shika-chan, he thought of things differently than me. My intelligence lent itself more to reading people, whereas Shikamaru's intelligence was far more technical.

I promptly jumped up in pure joy; I felt a weight fall off me. Ultimately this gave me so many new cards to play – I was no longer in a bad situation, neither was my clan.

"Shika-chan! You're the best! Oh man, I owe you so much. Anything you need Shika-chan, you just let me know~!" I smiled sincerely down at him before I plopped back down and gave him a kiss on his cheek, not even thinking about it, before giving him another wide smile, "You're a lifesaver 'Maru-kun…"

I hopped back up and grabbed my umbrella, twirling it around in happiness. Oh man, I owed Shika-chan so much for this.

Behind Raishi, there was a slightly red dusted Shikamaru, watching the Uchiha leave, fingers pressed where the Genjutsu user had pressed his lips, "… What a troublesome guy…"

Not that he would want Raishi any other way.

…

I really disliked the cat mission.

Normally, I wouldn't go through the trouble of finding a way to make it so the mission no longer existed. There was only so much aggravation I could take, however.

I took the cat into my arms and activated my Sharingan, trying my hardest not to glare, the rest of my team was watching me curiously, especially Naru-chan, who knew best what I was like when got angry. Instead, I just stared for a minute, blinking, waiting for the cat to copy it; I smirked when I knew I had it.

"From now on, you will NOT run away from your owner unless you or your owners are in danger."

Kakashi placed his head in his palm.

I suspect it was a mix of incredulous feelings toward me, as well as wishing he had thought of it himself. Too bad for Kaka-sensei was was just more crafty than him. The Sharingan hypnosis was actually quite powerful in the right person's hands, a lot of potential for abuse. You could essentially take control of someone and get them to do almost anything – As long as it didn't consciously go against their moral code. It had a few other factors in play as well, but those were the main attractions.

Cats didn't have that.

In contrast, both Uke-chan and Naru-chan looked practically enlightened.

"Raishi that was so awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Sasuke just gave an impressed Uchiha sound, "Hn."

On our way back, I had quite the victorious smirk on my mouth. I hadn't felt so happy in over a week. My meeting with Shika-chan had obviously helped me a lot, and thank the sage for small victories.

The way to the Hokage's office was boring, especially since the cat, for once, was rather passive. Good, the damn thing had learned its lesson when it came to me. Just as we entered the office, however, we came across another team who was there to turn in their own D-rank. Shika-chan and his team – if I could see my eyes, I would have spotted the immediate pleasure that entered them.

I rushed over to Shika-chan and jumped on his back, knowing damn well what the reaction would be.

Shikamaru hit the floor with a bang, unable to hold up the weight that had suddenly crashed into him, "…Raishi… You're so troublesome…"

Shika-chan didn't even need to turn around to know it was me.

"I missed Shika-chan! ~"

"It's been less than twenty-four hours, now get off, your fat ass is crushing me." As always, Shikamaru was blunt, not bothering to use energy for social niceties.

I grasped at my heart in fake hurt, "Shika-chan! You can't say that to a woman, you'll hurt my feelings~!"

"You aren't a woman Raishi, and you're crushing all feeling out of my body, so we're even."

"I'm starting to think that Shika-chan doesn't want my body plastered against him. I'll just go over there and cry about it then. ~" I pouted, but got off Shikamaru and walked back to my bemused team. There were various elements from both team 7 and team 10 that were rather shocked by the playful tone between the two of us,

I immediately turned toward Kaka-sensei when I came upon the team, "Can you believe it sensei? I thought Shika-chan liked me…" I deepened my pout.

"Maybe next time take your umbrella off before you jump on his back, you might get a warmer welcome." Kakashi reasoned, before poking his most playful student on the nose.

Ino seemed to have recovered from seeing Shikamaru actually having a friend other than the Chouji, and turned toward Uke-chan.

"Sasuke-kun! I haven't seen you in so long. What have you been up to?" She attached herself to my cousin like a fucking leach. I was extremely glad that her father was reasonable, the second I became head I was bombarded with contracts offering Sasuke marriage. No matter how good the offer, I had no intention of accepting, but there were hundreds. Ino wasn't among them, thank the lord. Had she known she would be refused, the girl would have been insufferable toward me.

"I'll never get what's so good about that Sasuke-teme…" Naruto hissed under his breath, his deep blue eyes burning with anger.

I shot a smirk toward Shikamaru, who caught my meaning immediately. Naruto was jealous.

I looked over to the sensei's who had taken to talking to one another, a small twitch of my lips later; I threw the cat toward Kakashi. I knew how hilarious it would have been if the animal grasped onto my sensei's face with its claws. Instead, he safely caught the animal and gave me an eye smile, "I think this is meant to go to the client, not my face."

"Ahhh~! I can't believe I forgot that! My bad Kaka-sensei, let's get going then." I was smiling outwardly, but inwardly I was pouting again. It would have been so funny.

Shikamaru was looking on, and to normal people, they would just see typical Nara laziness, but I could see it. He was laughing at me; I knew he was because just like he knew I was pouting, I knew what he was thinking. How insufferable, my inward pout deepened even more.

"Seems like you got a few troublemakers, Kakashi," Asuma spoke, lips around a cigarette, but he seemed amused. I might come to like him, especially if he took good care of Shikamaru like Shika-chan said he had been.

We ended up walking to the Hokage's office together.

…

Handing the traumatized cat over had never been easier. The woman took the cat out of Kaka-sensei's hand with a glare toward him. It made Kaka-sensei sweat a little bit, was he scared of old women, or that one in particular - Shit, I remember who that was now, the Daimyo's Wife.

Well… At least her cat wouldn't try to get away any longer.

"NO MORE D-RANKS! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF THESE STUPID MISSIONS!" Naru-chan finally blew up, glaring at the Hokage. Despite knowing the sort of relationship the two had, I felt a bolt of nervousness slide down my spine. I could tell that both Sasuke and Shikamaru were much the same, Kaka-sensei immediately brought a fist down on Naru-chan's head for the idiocy.

The Kage just gave Naru-chan, his considered grandson a smile, "I was actually going to suggest something. Since Team 7 is all male, they need some experience with working alongside a female, I was thinking we could perhaps send both Team 7 and Team 10 on a joint mission – This particular mission would be a C-rank escort mission toward the Wave."

Kakashi immediately nodded his agreement. Working with each other and other comrades happened to be something Kakashi wanted his team to have beaten into them; this was a good chance to do so. Asuma thought it over as well but knew that with him and Kakashi, even if his team wasn't ready, which they were, no danger could come to the Genin.

With agreements all around, the Hokage waved one of his Chunin runners to get the client, Naruto jumping for joy, "THANK'S OLD MAN! THANKS, KAKASHI-SENSEI! Oh man, what's the mission going to be, I can't wait I can't wait!"

Sasuke reached over and flicked Naruto on the forehead, "Calm down dope…"

Naru-chan shot Uke-chan a pout.

So adorable~ Oh man, I hoped they would get over their denial soon.

A drunken old man walked back in, still holding a bottle of sake, "I'm your client, the Great Tazuna."

…

We broke apart to get anything we might need from our homes for this specific mission. I grabbed a number of ration bars, and a few books, I also brought a typical field medic pack. Included inside were blood replenishing pills, soldier pills, bandages, and antiseptic.

No kunai, explosive kunai, nothing of the sort. I had my weapon, and that was all I ever really learned. Any other equipment would have been a waste to bring. I kept my weights on physically on, but I drained them of chakra. The last thing I needed was to be slowed down if something went wrong.

I also bought the book Shisui-nii made with me. My chakra control was at a level that I could try to learn his jutsu. He wrote his personal ones in the book, and if I was to carry on his legacy like he'd once claimed I would, it was about time to at least start learning some of them.

I walked back to where the teams were meeting, and was greeted with the sight of Tazuna insulting us all, asking if brats like us could actually protect him, I fought the urge to glare at him and say, 'If you continue insulting my team like that, I might accidentally let an enemy get you.'

Instead, I just rolled my eyes, inwardly hoping that this mission wouldn't be too long.

"Urgh… Why does the Wave need to be so far away…?" I heard a familiar drawl complain, a yawn erupting after the words.

Maybe it wouldn't be as horrible as I thought it would be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited (D/M/Y): 13/10/2017
> 
> Edits Included: Grammar issues, a few flow issues, and a few word choices were changed.


	7. The Companion

I walked next to Shika-chan, resisting the urge to throw an arm over his shoulders. Such things were not exactly proper mission positioning. Then again, since when did I care about something like that? Still, I did not succumb to the urge; there was still the small chance that we could be attacked.

"How have you been, Chouji?" I asked, mildly curious. I would not call Chouji and me friends, but we were friendly enough with one another, having Shikamaru in common.

He was currently snacking on some chips – Typical Chouji, "Pretty good, my Clan has been experimenting with new chip flavors."

Ino gave a scoff, "I'm so glad that Sasuke-kun doesn't have your bad habits, or he'd be too fat to live inside his house."

Shika-chan actually gathered the energy to give Ino a glare. This probably had to do with how stricken Chouji looked at the comment. Honestly, my feelings for Chouji were practically non-existent, He was a great guy, but no friendship really clicked into place. Shikamaru knew that I felt that way, accepted it for what it was. After all, he had similar feelings for Sasuke. He would not have given a single shit for the emo Uchiha if not for the fact he cared about me.

Because of the connection, I felt the need to at least attempt straightening Ino out, "Uke-chan as a lot of faults himself. He is stupid for one, training until he drops because he thinks it will make him stronger faster, but it actually slows him down, which he will never accept to be true despite the fact he knows I have knowledge on the subject. The only word he knows is, 'Hn' and he is always moving around as if he has a stick up his ass. He's way to prideful, and those are only the first things that come to mind! ~ My cousin is a mess of problems."

Chouji looked a bit happier now.

Shikamaru gave me a small smile; I had never seen him look at me like that either. Sure, we smiled at each other, we were friends, but this just felt heavier.

I liked it.

Sasuke was giving me a narrowed look out of the corner of his eyes but Naru-chan practically jumped in joy, "I knew you understood Raishi! Maybe someday people will start to see that this stupid Teme is only human."

Sasuke stared at Naru-chan for a moment, taking in the blonde's comment, because turning away quickly.

I could feel a smirk stretch across my lips, how bashful~ Was my darling cousin a little Tsundere?

Our client was situated between Kakashi and Asuma, who were behind the small army of Genin that we had formed. I could only assume that they were slightly amused by the way we were interacting. Perhaps Asuma was thankful, considering for the first time since the mission, Ino had stopped fawning over Sasuke, and seemed to be rather deeply in thought.

I hoped that it would get through to her.

I was pretty sure in the village; it would never have gotten through to her. The villages hero-worship of Sasuke would just draw Ino back in, but we had the chance on this mission to get rid of one of the biggest fangirls… It even seemed to be working!

"So, what is the Wave like? Does it have shinobi?" Ino suddenly asked, feeling curious.

She had moved a little bit away from Sasuke, still near, but it was not the hovering it had been before.

"It's a small village. No ninja are present there. Honestly, Ino didn't you pay any attention at the academy~?" I sang out, but got more technical a moment later, "There are the Five Great Shinobi Nations, those are the top, the biggest and baddest, and they make some of the best shinobi. There are some smaller villages that have shinobi forces as well, but it is difficult to support a shinobi nation when the Five Greats are sucking up all the missions. So other ninja villages are far and few between. Wave, on the other hand, used to be a shinobi power, but lost that in one of the wars."

That reminded me – Uzumaki Clan.

At first, I had thought it was nothing more than a coincidence that Naru-chan shared their name, and I did not want to get the blondes hope up. Lately, I was realizing that was false.

Naruto had the typical attitude and chakra reserves the Uzumaki were known for. It wasn't a lot to go on, but it was enough for me to search into the matter. Naru-chan wanted to know, so I would make it happen if I could.

Until that day, no point in mentioning it.

Kakashi looked a little bit impressed by me for having such knowledge – Perhaps he shouldn't be though. I was a Clan Head now; I had to know things like this.

Asuma picked up the explanation after I fell into thought, "Another big fixture of the Five Great Nations is the fact they have a Kage. Our Hokage being one of the strongest people to ever exist."

"Wow, Hokage-sama is that good?" Ino asked, her voice coated in awe.

I withheld a snort. Her fangirl tendencies had utterly destroyed her education. Asuma would have a lot to fill in – I could see the resigned note in the man's eyes as he noticed it as well.

I pulled out my Shisui-nii book and started to absent-mindedly read, making sure I didn't lose any attention on my surroundings as I did so. It slowed down my reading speed considerably – Almost to a halt. Still, if Kaka-sensei could do it, that just meant I needed to practice. Ideally, there were a few specific techniques of Shisui-nii that I wanted to learn. His technique of layering Genjutsu, his Body Flicker, and his way of teaching Nature Transformation. Especially the last one, because instead of using it like training for Ninjutsu, Shisui-nii had flipped it around a bit, instead it was a training in Chakra Control.

That would help with some techniques in another book I bought, it had several medical techniques in it. Mystical Palm was great but general and ineffective for most serious issues. It also did absolutely nothing for poisons and chakra exhaustion.

Suddenly I felt a prick on my senses. Small, barely noticeable, but my abilities and familiarity with Genjutsu allowed me to notice.

Then logic took over.

Two puddles in the road, when it hadn't rained in Sage knows how long? If I noticed, undoubtedly the Jounin and Shika-chan had as well. The others were going to be left unaware if the Jounin didn't see fit to inform them. A test to see how well we performed? No, they wanted to see who the shinobi were after. There were a lot of options there; each of the people in the group was a high-quality target. Both of the sensei happened to be famous Jounin, especially Kakashi, I was a clan head, Sasuke had a strong bloodline, the Genin of Team 10 were clan heirs, Naru-chan was a Jinchūriki, and there was our client…

Forget that, first things first, battle plan. If Shika-chan knew, when the shinobi attacked, he would place them in a Shadow Jutsu, which so ideally I should stop them from spotting that jutsu.

As inconspicuously as possible, I put my book into my pouch and readied my hands to make seals.

A small Genjutsu would be best; something to make them think that there was nothing that could possibly be attacking them from the bottom. It was a simple Genjutsu, something that would be noticed quickly by most people above Genin level, but it didn't need to last long, just until the Nara Shadows reached the attackers.

We approached, and the trap was sprung.

Two figures rose from the puddles, and promptly swung at the Jounin, I didn't pay mind to it, instead, my eyes activated and I was already moving through hand signs, "Genjutsu: Ayamatta Hōkō"

Shikamaru's shadows started to reach.

I could feel Genjutsu activating near where the two Sensei happened to be, a sickening sound erupting, shocked sounds coming from Ino and Naru-chan, but I didn't move my eyes from the current enemy.

Shika-chan's shadows attached.

There was a pause in movement, the world seemed eerily quiet.

"… Yes it worked, stop staring and knock them out, using this much chakra is a drag." Shikamaru said, his voice strained a bit.

I shot forward and knocked them both over the head with my umbrella.

I noticed Shika wince, and I shot him an apologetic look. I knew there was an echo of pain using that particular jutsu to hold someone.

The sensei came out of the trees, sporting serious expressions, "Good job Raishi and Shikamaru, as well as you Chouji, Sasuke, guarding the client is important as well. Although Naruto, I didn't expect you to freeze up like that, I guess that dead last title is showing. And I guess Ino is just a fangirl…"

Kakashi…

I glared at him, if looks could kill, the silver-haired man would have keeled over, "Don't listen to him Naru-chan, it was your first time in a battle – unlike us clan kids, you didn't get training outside of the academy. He doesn't know shit."

I didn't care if that would get me in trouble with a superior in that moment.

"Raishi… Don't be troublesome. Your sensei was just trying to make a point…" Shikamaru added in cautiously.

I turned toward Shikamaru, glare still on my face, but it started to soften at Shikamaru's taken aback face, as the Nara actually flinched backward.

He knew that I had the 'big brother complex' as he'd stated before, but he'd never seen it in action. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever even been mad at Shikamaru before. He would never have gotten the chance to see me angry. I knew that I could put on a scary face sometimes, but for Shika-chan to actually flinch back from me, as though I would hurt him…

"We can have small talk later; I think we need to know more about this mission," Asuma said, lighting a cigarette and turning toward the client, who was sweating his nervousness.

…

The man confessed his lying, but I disliked this whole situation. Immediately afterward I wanted to go back to Konoha, we were well within our rites to, as the mission, parameters were falsified. This was a mission too dangerous for Genin to be a part of. However, I already knew how this was going to go, I knew everyone around us after all. Naruto would want to go on because he was Naruto, Sasuke would want to go because of his pride, Chouji was a good guy and would want to go to help people, and Ino would go because Sasuke was going. Shikamaru wouldn't want to either, for various reasons, but it wouldn't matter. Both Shikamaru and I would already be outvoted.

Before the sensei had even asked us if we wanted to go on, I was accepting the way this would go.

Shikamaru seemed pretty sure about it as well as he whispered under his breath, "Oh man… What a drag."

Surely if Naru-chan or Uke-chan were badly injured, I would kill our client.

Was that a joke? An over exaggeration? I honestly didn't know myself. Let's hope that we didn't get the chance to find out.

"Who wants to continue on with the mission?" Kakashi asked his tone level.

There was no surprise in the results, and so we were on our way, walking toward the boats. As we reached them, Kakashi got an evil look on his face, "Oh, there is only room for so many people on there… I guess that Asuma, Raishi, and I are going to have to walk… That still leaves one person without a way to get there though."

Where was my sensei going with this?

…

My water walking was steady no matter how much weight I was carrying. I used weights on the daily after all, including my umbrella, so why was this situation causing me to lose my concentration so much. Every time there was a little slip in my step, arms would tighten around me, and I had to force myself back to full concentration.

That stupid sensei of mine.

He thought that it this was a little training exercise for me, that it would help with my stamina or something, but all it was doing was proving to be a distraction for reasons that I didn't quite understand.

So what was this distraction?

Shikamaru was attached to my back, arms tight around my neck and legs wrapped around my waist. His head falling level with my ear, his face pressed against the right side of my own, "I thought you had better Chakra Control than this Raishi… Why do you keep almost dropping us into the drink…?"

For some reason, I blushed a bright red, my body going rigid, "Ahh… Ahahaaha… Who knows~?"

I sure as hell didn't – So why was I so embarrassed? I hadn't been so embarrassed in my life, I felt shaky, and was someone laughing at me!?

Kaka-sensei was chuckling.

I glared at the guy again; this was revenge for my earlier comment toward Naruto when the man had been insulting toward my blonde. Kaka-sensei was a petty creature; I would have to get him back for this. Especially since the man seemed to understand something that I didn't.

"Asuma-sensei, how are you, Kakashi-sensei, and Raishi-kun walking on water?" Ino demanded, but was mostly just annoyed by her own lack of knowledge.

I had been horrified during the academy when I realized they didn't ever actually teach advanced chakra control beyond the leaf exercise. It was a good thing that I had Shisui-nii's book, or who knew where I would have ended up. Probably some stiffy Uchiha that used my eyes as a crutch.

"Hmm… Why don't you ask Raishi, you are meant to be getting along with your teammates after all." Asuma spoke, casually motioning toward Shika-chan and me.

Great, another distraction, instead of seeming put out though, I placed a smile on my lips, and "It's a chakra control technique. It helps you learn to effectively use your chakra instead of just wasting it. Like Naru-chan does~!"

Naruto through a pout in my direction, and I could  _feel_  Shikamaru chuckle silently against my back, and I erupted into shivers.

What the hell?

Oh... OH!

_Really?_

_I was attracted to Shika-chan._

It did explain a few things, like my general reactions toward him. Why I placed him on the same level as Naru-chan and Uke-chan even though I definitely didn't think of him the same way as the other two. The way that I would seek him out if I needed comfort, instead of anyone else. The way I teased him, or the way I kissed his cheek, the way that I practically attacked him hugs, the way I was grasping him right now –

It was so obvious. I can't believe I had missed it.

It was just a childish crush; it would probably pass in a week or so.

Did Shika-chan know as well? No, he wasn't good at reading emotions from other people. He understood his own well enough, he understood the way that I thought, most of my thoughts, but with emotions of other people, he was definitely behind me as far as understanding went. It would be gone soon anyway, so there wasn't need to worry.

Either way, I needed to push the revelation away to think about later, right now I needed to be more alert just in case of attack.

I felt Shika-chan tighten his arms around my neck slightly, and I almost fell into the water again, which just caused him to grip tighter.

Oh man, what a nightmare a crush was. I'm so glad that they come and go like the rain.

…

It took way too long for us to get back to land, the second we did, I practically dropped Shika-chan like a sack of rice. I could feel my face reddening, but I forced that emotion backward. If I wanted to get through this crush without Shika noticing, then I needed to be careful about just what sorts of emotions I showed him for a while.

I disliked the knowing looks both of the sensei gave me.

Therefore, I sort of… Ignored Shika-chan a bit and went over to Naru-chan, who was essentially pretty happy at the moment, looking around with an adorable amount of wonder. He seemed to really enjoy being out of the village for a little while. I wouldn't blame him, seeing as how when Naru-chan was there, the majority of emotion he received was negative.

"You having fun Naru-chan?" I inquired with a small smile.

I got a large grin in return for the effort, "Yes! I am so glad that we got this mission. We even get to help the old man save his country – It's so awesome!"

Suddenly Naruto stopped talking and turned toward the woods, there was a serious expression on his face, and eh through a kunai toward a specific area.

Why?

I didn't see anything, but Naru-chan was better at stealth then me. Then again, if it was about stealth, then the sensei should have seen something as well. Of course, that didn't mean it wasn't possible, just that it wasn't likely. There was the second possibility, it seemed more likely but – Now wasn't the time to think of such things.

"Naruto! Why did you do that? This is a serious mission, you can't be playing around." Ino lectured, coming from someone who had taken her shinobi training like a joke, the lecture lost a lot of impact.

I wasn't so disinclined to ignore the threat, neither was anyone other than Ino and Naru-chan, who apparently forgot he had even thought something was wrong.

"I thought I felt something… Sorry…"

We walked back to where Naru-chan had thrown his kunai, but only saw a bunny.

Chouji and Sasuke relaxed immediately, "Dope, you're scared of a little bunny?"

"Teme!" Naru-chan looked about ready to start a sparring match.

A white bunny? I looked over to Shika-chan with a questioning look, who nodded in return, and both of us tensed, "Naru-chan, Uke-chan, please concentrate." I hissed at them, searching the surroundings.

"Get down!" Kakashi and Asuma both suddenly exclaimed.

We dropped, Sasuke pulling the distracted Naruto down with him, Chouji dropping almost too late, getting some of his hair cut off by the giant blade that suddenly came out of nowhere. I whistled, a bit impressed by the sheer size of it. A man appeared on top of the tree embedded blade, looking backward at us, hopping onto the ground afterward, and pulling his sword free in a single fluid movement.

"Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist." Kakashi suddenly stated, bringing Asuma to an even higher level of guarding, as myself and the rest of the Genin naturally fell into a guarding stance around our client.

"Kakashi no Sharingan and Asuma of the Guard… Such big names for my opponents today. Sorry, but that old man is my target, and I don't fail." The man with a forehead protector on the side of his head claimed, a note of pride in his voice.

This reminded me that I needed to purchase a bingo book when I got back to Konoha, the information would be invaluable. Honestly, I should have done that a long time ago.

"Stay back!" Asuma ordered the Genin. "You won't be able to fight this one. He's far beyond your level."

"For this opponent, I may have to use this…" Kaka-sensei decided, placing a hand over his hitai-ite.

I suddenly realized that I hadn't mentioned to Sasuke that our teacher had the Sharingan, had I? Did he already know? Oh well, maybe that would teach Uke-chan a lesson on information gathering.

On the other hand, maybe I was just trying to give an excuse for my own in action.

"Zabuza we will definitely protect our client," Kaka-sensei stated as he finally pulled up his forehead protector to reveal his sole Sharingan eye. I couldn't help but think that our sensei had been amply overdramatic about it. Zabuza seemed to eat it up.

"So I've already got to see the Sharingan eye… I'm honored. You see, I was part of a special part of the ANBU known as the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, and we learned a lot about the two of you. Some of the strongest ninja in Konoha, along with Might Gai." Zabuza drawled, his eyes gleamed with excitement, which didn't speak of great things to come for us.

Suddenly I felt Naruto pull at my arm, although his eyes didn't leave Zabuza's form, "Raishi, I think there is someone else out there."

That sent the final nail in the coffin. Naru-chan had probably followed his clan's blood with its sensor abilities. The question was, what did we do with that information? Both of the sensei had their attention focused on the former ANBU in front of them, even a flinch in a high-level battle like this could cause something bad to happen. Having said that, if someone didn't check out the woods were Naru-chan had sensed something and it actually was an enemy, then they could act before Kakashi or Asuma even noticed.

"Shika, did you hear him?"

"Troublesome… Let's go?" Shikamaru spoke, quickly analyzing the situation. I had come to the same conclusion – The two of us going would leave some skilled members to watch after Zabuza, and we were the best suited to dealing with whatever enemy was there. Intelligence over actual skill, because for all we know the opponent could be Jounin level.

"You guys should move into an alpha formation."

With that, both Shika and I moved into the woods, searching around for the aforementioned shinobi.

…

It didn't take a few minutes of searching before senbon started to rain down on us.

We jumped behind a few trees; I activated my Sharingan and grasped my umbrella. I tossed a look toward Shikamaru, who had his eyes narrowed in thought but seemed pretty ready for action.

"Ahhhhh~! You shouldn't just attack people out of nowhere like that! At least introduce yourself." I sang out to the quiet forest.

"It is of no consequence to you. I am but a tool to Zabuza-sama."

Shika sent out his shadows toward where the sound came from, and I ran out from cover, more senbon where thrown, but I threw my umbrella out in front of me, crouching behind it, using it as a shield and grabbing one of the senbon, showing it to Shikamaru.

He got the trajectory, now we just need distance.

Nowhere near as easy to procure as the direction. I glanced over my umbrella and swiftly scouted the area, quickly moving my head to the side as more senbon appeared.

I would need to force them to throw more senbon or to come out and use a different sort of attack. I would need to dodge a lot of senbon, but that was within my capabilities with my umbrella in hand. Although this would be my first time using it outside of theory.

Taking a deep breath, I stood from my crouch behind my umbrella and started to twirl it around, using my Sharingan; I started to deflect all the senbon coming my way with reasonable effectiveness. A few of them scratched my legs, but those were minor injuries that were easily solved.

The senbon rain stopped, and I thought we were finally getting somewhere.

Instead, my eyes widened when I felt chakra appearing behind both the Nara and me, close to the rest of the group.

Without much thought, I shot forward toward the difference, spotting Kakashi and Asuma about ready to finish off Zabuza, before a mirror of sorts appeared before them and a hand reached out, grabbing Zabuza, and the mirror disappeared, and so did any trace of the chakra. I was incredibly tense, my eyes still activated as I took in full stalk of the situation. I couldn't help but feel like I failed.

I couldn't stop the partner, and despite the fact that they only used their true ability to save Zabuza; they could have used it to kill Naru-chan or Uke-chan before I could do anything.

I felt an anger building up within me.

Shikamaru came up behind me, I couldn't even really see my surroundings right now with how much anger I was feeling, "Rai… Kakashi needs medical attention. Don't be troublesome; keep it together until we get somewhere safe."

I took a deep breath, taking some comfort from the familiar feeling of Shikamaru just being there, being near me, and just being a presence that I could depend on.

I could kill that shinobi that Zabuza had as a partner later, for now, I had a job to do.

…

Kakashi was in pretty shit condition. I healed anything I could physically, but his current problem was his chakra pools, which was practically empty. I had the book on techniques with me, but it was no time to experiment, I could do that later. It would be a good way to make my sensei make up for the Shikamaru situation from earlier.

Sasuke had a broken arm.

Naruto had a few cuts.

Asuma also had a few cuts, deeper than Naruto's.

Sasuke's broken arm would need to come first; I moved toward him and ignored some of the mutterings around me.

"Where did Raishi-kun learn these things?" I heard Ino ask, no one in particular.

No one knew the answer except Shikamaru, who eventually gave up on someone else taking the initiative to answer and spoke, "He taught himself most of what he knows. He uses books and scrolls from his family library and some book that his brother left him. It's really important to him; I would suggest not asking after it, you'll get a really sharp response."

I could feel a considering gaze on my back, before Asuma spoke up, "He's pretty skilled for a male, especially one so young. Usually, men don't have the chakra control for Iryō Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. He also shows a considerable amount of knowledge in both fields, despite the fact that he is only using one technique, that's impressive in the field of Iryō Ninjutsu. I wouldn't dare to do the same."

Damn right you wouldn't, you might end up giving someone chakra poisoning.

"Alright Uke-chan, I think I've got everything I need to know, time to snap it back into place~!"

"What are you—"

I didn't give him time to form the question before I twisted the bone back into place with a snap. I ignored him crying out, knowing that it needed to be done; if it healed incorrectly then it would just need to be broken again later. Better to just do it now before it heals.

I hovered my hands above his skin, directly over the injured area and formed the needed hand signs for the Mystical Palm Technique. His pained sounds immediately decreased as the soothing chakra spread over his skin, at this point, I turned to look at Asuma, maintaining the current amount of chakra output, "How bad off are you?"

I expected a Jounin to honestly answer the question posed by a Medical Shinobi, even if he didn't like it.

"Just a few scratches, nothing too deep."

I stared into his eyes for a moment, looking for a lie. When seeing none, I gave an understanding nod, "Naruto will heal up all by himself by the time that I'm done healing most of the damage done to Sasuke's arm. We should probably move in a few minutes, which will make it so that I have enough time to make sure Uke-chan's arm heals correctly."

I looked toward Shikamaru, "I have a med-pack with me, can you reach into my pouch and give Asuma-sensei the blue and red pills. They are the blood replenishing and antiseptic pills respectfully, although I'm sure you know that at this point in our field."

I completely concentrated on the injury before me after that, ignoring anything else. The last thing I needed was Uke-chan giving me grief if I did it wrong. It wasn't as if my cousin would yell, oh no, he would just glare and give me the cold shoulder. Honestly, that would be worse than him yelling.

…

The majority of wounds healed, we started to make our way to our client's house, the now skittish man apologizing profusely for the damage that was caused. Was that because he could feel me glaring at him? I ended up not killing him despite the fact that both Naru-chan and Uke-chan were injured, but I was not a happy camper. I was starting to get low on chakra myself after all the healing, so I was in an even worse mood than I would be otherwise.

I tried to keep positive, by thinking of all the painful ways that I was going to kill Zabuza's partner.


	8. The Improvement

…

**Shikamaru PoV**

…

I was lazy.

Being a Nara pretty much ensured that, I had been this way from birth, but there was a bit of reasoning behind it. We were so lazy, practically lethargic because our brains worked so quickly. It hurt, to use my considerable intelligence all the time – There was no turning it off. Dimming it with relaxation, attempting to focus on just one thing, those were the only ways to deal with it.

So I cloud watched, I played shogi, but most of all, I hung around Raishi.

The troublesome Uchiha had a way about him that made you focus on just him, and it was if nothing else in the world existed.

Even when we had been fighting together against a more advanced opponent, my focus was still on a sharp edge. Raishi was there to make it so, after all.

It had been a mixture of laziness and want to be near Raishi that made me keep my mouth shut about the fact I could water walk. I couldn’t deny the fact I liked being so close to Rai, it didn’t happen too often. Usually we were a foot away from each other, but even so far away, I could feel so incredibly close to the Uchiha. Being physically close increased this feeling exponentially. Being in the situation, I couldn’t resist the urge to try a few low energy experiment.

He blushed at my proximity – Did he know the reaction he had on me and suspect something? No… Raishi wouldn’t blush over someone else’s feelings.

… Interesting, so it was his own feelings causing the reaction.

I had tightened my arms around him, pushed my own face closer to Rai’s and watched. The blush deepened, he lost concentration to the point he almost lost us into the water depths.

I could see the realization come to him soon after that. I wasn’t the type to show expressions most of the time, logically speaking it took energy that I simply didn’t have to be switching facial expressions, but inwardly I was pretty disappointed at this turn. Despite knowing that Raishi had feelings for me, knowing that he was going to start actively hiding them… I knew Raishi though. The Uchiha probably just expected it was nothing more a simple crush.

The whole way to the client’s house, I mused over whether or not Raishi had the same strength of emotions as I felt for him.

This meant I needed to figure out how I cared for Raishi, to begin with. As a rule, Nara found their life partners pretty young. My father had found his when he was something like thirteen – Most Nara found there between the ages of fourteen through eighteen. It was rare to find your partner so young, but once a Nara made their mind up on a partner… There was nothing for it. That simply would be the person the Nara was going to be with. Usually, the ones that found their partner young turned out to be the smarter Nara. (Not that the few IQ points made that much of a difference when you were already so far above everyone else.)

Is that what I felt for Raishi though?

Simply speaking, I honestly didn’t think I could find someone else that made me feel the way Raishi did. I wasn’t extremely physically attracted at the moment though I did find Raishi to be cute, it was more of a mental attraction, the physical aspect would come with him, but the way that Raishi took hold of my mind…

“Shikamaru?” Chouji asked, sounding rather worried for me, likely because I was lost in thought but not looking at the clouds like I normally would be – Rather I was watching the Uchiha with glazed over, questioning eyes.

“Urgh, why does he have to be so difficult?” I asked Chouji, not expecting a response, but I got one.

My friend smiled at me a knowing look entering his eyes. I forgot sometimes, that Raishi might know me best, but Chouji wasn’t lacking in that area, “If it was easy, it would be boring for you.”

Yet another way that both Raishi and I were quite alike. We made quite the match; I could feel a weary smile curl my lip at the thought. Maybe I’d get the chance to see where this would go. Provided we survived the nuke-nin, the depressed village, and Raishi didn’t kill me should he find out I could actually water walk.

…

**Raishi PoV**

…

It didn’t take too much longer for us to get to the house.

Asuma immediately ordered us around, sending Sasuke, Chouji, and Shika-chan out to guard the outside of the house well both the sensei and I made sure Kakashi was settled in. Once we had him situated on a bed, Asuma turned toward me, “I’m going to send the others back in and watch the perimeter. I’m going to tell Shikamaru that he’s in charge well I am on look out – I’m guessing you will be staying with Kakashi the majority of the time until he gets better?”

Seems the man had been around a few Medical-Nins before.

“Mhmm~ It also gives me the perfect chance to work on the Iryō Ninjutsu: Chakra no Kōkan. I’m sure my sensei wouldn’t mind being such a huge help in my skill development!” I gave Asuma a small smile, but I still remembered Kaka-sensei being mean to me earlier and making me carry Shika-chan, and this technique didn’t need to be painless…

The man raised an eyebrow, and I supposed he picked up on those thoughts but didn’t say anything before leaving.

Perhaps because I couldn’t actually go through it.

I was a healer first, revenge came second.

I opened up my textbooks and read the technique again, Iryō Ninjutsu: Chakra no Kōkan --- The healer used their heavily controlled chakra like acupuncture in some key chakra nodes to stimulate their subjects personal chakra creation. It required precise ability to form your chakra into a needle form. It would require a good bit of practice before I could get it down, but it would be worth it.

I took a deep breath, and started practice. Forming a needle, and then attempting to stab myself in the leg. It would be a long process, but I would need to actually be able to do this on myself before I would dare to use it on an actual patient, and I didn’t have anything else to try it on. This was especially true, considering I was going to need to form at least five needles at the same time.

...

It took about five hours, but eventually, after repeatedly stabbing myself, I got the technique down.

Having gotten the needle part of the technique down I was ready to jump into stabbing the shit out of my ‘funny’ sensei.

Internal jokes aside, I would need another technique before I started to try the Chakra Kōkan, a numbing technique. It was simpler, a modification on the Mystical Palm Technique, the Iryō Ninjutsu: Nanbaringu technique.  Reading the hand seals, it only took me a few moments before I could feel my arm numbing to a satisfactory level. Overall, that was the best I could do. Normally doing trying something like this without a fully trained professional around would never be allowed – Yet we needed Kakashi-sensei conscious just about yesterday. I also just realized how utterly stupid it was, to learn the needle jutsu before the numbing one. Had I done it the other way, I would have saved myself a lot of pain.

I never heard a blonde come in an hour or so ago, watching me with a weird sort of fascination.

I looked at Kakashi and started to numb the areas that I would be pushing chakra needles into, probably spending more time on it than strictly needed, but despite my current wish for revenge, Kaka-sensei was my team leader, I didn’t actually want to hurt him… Just embarrass him.

I took a deep breath.

Forming hand signs, “Iryō Ninjutsu: Chakra no Kōkan.”

Needles appeared before certain points of Kakashi’s body, before slowly pushing themselves in. I closed my eyes in concentration, thinking only of the flow of chakra and the passage of time.  Carefully, I kept track of the chakra in the man’s coils, the moment I started to feel even the barest of flow, I broke the technique, knowing if I stayed longer I could give him chakra poisoning.

The second I broke the technique, my eyes flashed open and I drew my eyes over my prone sensei, looking for visual signs of complications, before using Mystic Palm to see if any issues had erupted.

It seemed all good.

I gave a sigh of relief.

“… Raishi-kun is amazing.” I heard Ino speak, her voice breaking with awe.

Shit, this wasn’t going to become my first fangirl experience, was it? I sure hoped not, the last thing I needed was a distraction like that. The thought of it sent a shiver down my spine. Even the thought of having fan girls like my cousin made me feel sympathetic toward him.

“Awww, thanks, Ino-kun~”

“… Kun?” Ino asked, a mild growl in her voice, and I turned to look at her straight on. She was shaking in anger.

I just smiled, “That’s right~! Ino-kun is much more manly than me, even now he is shaking in anger around an injured person, he doesn’t know any gentleness, does he?”

“You...!” Ino looked around ready to jump over to me and punch my lights out, but held back and just clenched her fist in anger and left the room.

The plan worked~ No fan girls for me. Some people are just too easy to manipulate…

Having taken care of that, I wondered if I should go downstairs and introduce myself.  It was better for me to stay here with Kakashi just in case something went wrong. I doubted it would happen, I’d been textbook in my usage of the technique, but considering I’d never done it before, I needed to make sure that Kakashi didn’t go into chakra shock…

It’s going to take hours before I could actually leave… Oh well, it would give me plenty of time to read and decide what I wanted to learn considering the information  I’d gained through this mission so far.

…

My options were either learning layered Genjutsu or starting to work on the Shunshin that Shisui-nii was famous for.  I only had time to start learning one, especially if I wanted to be able to use it against Zabuza’s partner.

Leaning up against Kakashi’s bed, I opened my brother’s book. I wanted to clearly lay my options out before me in a manner of proactive verses contrary.

The ‘Shunshin’ jutsu that made my brother so famous wasn’t actually a Shunshin – but a modification of the technique. The original Shunshin had you coat your body in chakra and propel yourself forward, but Shisui-nii changed that, making you force a lot of chakra into your feet and using that to move at speeds even faster than the original Shunshin. Part of the reason no one used it before was the fact it would give someone tunnel vision; you would need a Sharingan to overcome that. It also wasn’t easy to learn, it took hundreds of times to learn how not to end up flashing yourself into the objects around you. Shisui’s technique was so fast that it literally became a teleport if done correctly, body moving so fast, molecules that make up your human form moving so fast, that you could literally – practically – teleport.

Whereas layered Genjutsu was much more important to my future as a Genjutsu user. Layering techniques makes them harder to find, and harder to dispel. Some people dispel one then – not realizing they were in another – just continue the fight.

Both of the techniques had a lot of merits. For time’s sake, learning Layered Genjutsu would probably be the better option but –

“Shunshin will help you match your enemy better, right?” A groggy voice spoke next to my ear, and I whipped backward to see my irritating sensei reading my brother's book over my shoulder.

I gave a light glare, “Don’t, the book is mine.”

I was possessive of it, but Kaka-sensei was my team leader and sensei, it wasn’t as though he was about to give those techniques away to someone else, still, the man nodded in understanding.

I pushed my thoughts on the technique aside and looked into Kakashi’s eyes, “How are you feeling?”

“Better than I have right too,” Kakashi answered, although he wasn’t actually puzzled over the fact. It seemed that his students were more skilled than he gave them credit for, “If you are going to learn either of those techniques you will have me present. They might be your namesake, and you have the right to learn them, I can’t stop you, but you are also my precious student and both of them are chakra intensive and dangerous to learn.”

I was forced to respect Kaka-sensei in a way.

He was a legendary shinobi that had become my teacher – Then just hours ago he risked his life on a mission, but more importantly, to protect Naru-chan and Uke-chan. Despite the fact he did a lot of underhanded revenge plots that seemed to embarrass me in one way or another, I could now say that I surely, truly, and purely respected him. He cared about my well being far more than I had ever expected him too, even injured and prone to bed.

“I’ll go get the others; we are probably due for a team meeting,” I stated wearily because, despite my appreciation, I wouldn’t promise to not train by myself. I was good at self-training; I didn’t need a babysitter.

…

I walked downstairs and was met with the sight of Asuma at the kitchen table as well as the rest of the team huddled around, food placed in front of them.

“Kaka-sensei woke~ That annoying sensei of ours will be back on his feet in no time. In by no time, I mean he won’t be getting up for anything, ANYTHING for at least three days.” I started with a joking tone, but gradually it turned almost threatening.

When had I taken Iryō Ninjutsu so seriously? I took it up as something to protect my cousin, but now I was taking responsibilities for a patient, my friends, and literally stabbing myself to make sure that a technique was good enough to use on my teacher. I would have to have a work with Ino about that later. Had she seen it, I really needed for her to keep it to herself. It was a weakness that enemies could use, myself harm for my teammates' sake. Sure, Konoha was known for its teamwork, but something like what I had done would still be considered atypical.

Regardless of my thoughts, Asuma nodded in agreement, “Alright guys, let’s all go meet by Kakashi. Oh, Raishi-kun, the woman is our client’s son, and the kid is his grandson – Inari.”

I gave them both a wide grin and gave them a peace sign, picking up one of the still full food plates, “Mind if I take this upstairs for myself and my sensei?”

“Oh, no, not at all. Help yourself; you more than deserve it for what you are doing for my father.” The woman spoke, even as the kid shot me a dirty glare.

Everyone else had already gone upstairs, and I followed after. This was actually the kind of meal that was best for Kakashi, meat, veggies, and a fat product. It was the perfect nutritional balance – It would not hurt his chakra production. If anything it would help, I also might give Kakashi a soldier pill, that could also help the Copy-Nin, but those pills tended to be dangerous at times.

Ninja would pop them like candy if it were otherwise.

Everyone was gathered around Kakashi, anyone my age sat on the floor. I gave a light shrug but walked over to Kakashi and handed him the food, “Eat it.”

No room for argument.

Kakashi just shook his head.

I felt the need to glare, to question, but decided to wait until later. I got the feeling I had a distinctively unhappy expression considering the comforting poke I receive from Shika-chan; I gave him a smile back.

“What’s this all about?” Naruto groused, impatient to get this meeting done and over with.

“Zabuza is injured, but still alive; his accomplice is stronger than we could have predicted. We also have any other thins that Gato might try to throw at us. This is a lot of unknowns.” Kakashi stated grimly.

Asuma gave a minuscule simper, “So we have training to do.”

The grin that the two Jounin were sharing didn’t speak of good intentions for us Genin. Somehow, though, both Uke-chan and Naru-chan seemed pretty psyched up to get some training. There was another surprising member of Team Energy.

Ino Yamanaka – Who had a fiery determination in her eyes now. I couldn’t help but approve and hope that it would continue along that way.

 

 


	9. The Manipulation

Asuma had led the others back to the dinner table, announcing that after we had eaten, everyone was going out for training. He included me in those numbers – Despite the fact that I should definitely still be here with Kakashi in case something went wrong. Regardless, I stayed behind for a moment to talk to my sensei as everyone else left.

“Kaka-sensei, you had better eat that food,” I stated in a firm tone, glaring at the man.

 He seemed almost bashful in demeanor, “I will, but I don’t have the chakra for Genjutsu and I have to take my mask off to eat…”

“You stubborn being. You’re meant to be a genius but you’re actually stupid and shy.” I gave a little snort before it turned into an amused grin. Now that I understood his reasoning, I couldn’t maintain the unnatural firm tone, “Don’t worry sensei~ I won’t tell anyone about how shy you are. I’ll just go out and train with the others. If you feel any abnormal waves in your chakra output or sudden pains, you better call me back.”

I threw a wave over my shoulder and walked out of the room. I took out one of my ration bars and started to eat it – Something about eating the client’s food rubbed me the wrong way. Especially considering the current financial crisis throughout the village.

…

When I got into the kitchen I looked at the table, and the only available seat was between Shika-chan and Ino-kun.

I almost blushed, because I could feel the wave of warmth that went through me when I laid eyes on Shikamaru. I’d almost forgotten about my crush on him, and that was a good sign that it was just that, a crush that would fade – I still didn’t want him to find out though. That meant acting like I normally would. How would I react to something like this without knowing my feelings for Shika-chan?

“Shika-chan~! You’ll never believe what happened to me earlier, it scared me so much.” I sat down next to him, plastering myself to his side and getting as far from Ino-kun as I possibly could I could before I continued with my little act, “A blonde monster was watching me heal Kaka-sensei, he almost got so angry that he attacked me! I can’t believe that you can be on a team with a man like that~ Honestly, how are you still alive Shika-chan?”

“Rai...shi....-kun….” I heard Ino draw out next to me, hissing in anger.

“Ahhh~! There he is again Shika-chan, you’ll protect me, won’t you? A delicate woman like me can’t deal with such manliness…” I hopped off the bench and ‘cowered’ behind Shikamaru in the face of the blonde’s anger.

I could feel Shikamaru practically wilt and wondered why he would shrink in on himself, unless -- “… Urgh… Rai stop being so troublesome, if you stop angering him then he’ll probably leave you alone.”

I burst out into laughter, falling onto the floor and holding my stomach. Naruto was quick to follow in the reaction – Leaning against a suddenly blushing Uchiha so that he didn’t fall to the floor as well. Chouji was looking a little bit worried, looking back and forth between his two teammates, and Asuma was chuckling lightly. The civilians looked at us as if we had lost our minds.

Ino, on the other hand, reached over and smacked Shikamaru about the head without hesitation. I could hear his groan, but I knew what his face looked like in the aftermath of the little tease, he would have the smallest smirk, and it would have looked adorable had I not been looking at the back of his head –

Stupid thoughts, but I couldn’t help but love Shikamaru’s sense of humor.

Before Ino-kun could express the vast remainder of her anger, Asuma stepped in, “Alright then, considering how much energy you are showing, I suppose you are good enough to start the training we have planned.”

Why did that still sound more like a threat than a kindness?

…

We walked out to the trees; I suddenly got the idea of what this would be. Considering I already knew this technique and the one that came after it, most likely Asuma would either leave me to give them some training tips or send me somewhere else to train in something else.

“Alright, so we’re going to be climbing trees,” Asuma said, pointing toward one for good measure, watching each of our faces.

This was likely a little test to see who knew what he was talking about, a test that Shikamaru and Chouji passed.

“Huh?! We learned that ages ago!” Naru-chan exclaimed, a little pout on his face.

I tried not to smile, knowing damn well that Naru-chan was about to surprise them all with his ability to do this exercise. I couldn’t wait to see Uke-chan’s face when he realized that the blonde had one up on him, that Naru-chan was actually a good rival in ways that couldn’t be predicted. Still, by far the best reaction was Ino-kun’s, who seemed almost angry once again. She had quite the temper, a double-sided weapon I reckon.  Sasuke seemed offended as well but withheld a verbal response.

Shikamaru seemed nervous about something.

That was weird because I knew Shikamaru wasn’t one to get nervous. The only time I had seen it in the years that we had been together was when he was afraid he had angered his mother.

“Not just climbing the trees, but doing it with no hands,” Asuma announced, trying to be dramatic, but his tone fell flat.

If it were Kaka-sensei, the moment would have had a lot more impact.

Instead, Naruto just gave the man a bored look, “That’s it? I could do that ages ago.”

Suddenly, I had the weird image of Naruto sticking his whole foot through the tree each time he took a step to ‘tree walk’ and snickered to myself.

Without waiting for a reply, Naru-chan walked over to a tree and started to walk up. His footing was a little bit shaky, there were a few times he almost seemed like he would blast off, but he reined it in. Impressive, he had clearly been practicing, he wasn’t far off from being ready to learn water walking – Although I’m sure Kaka-sensei could be the one to take care of that. Teaching Naru-chan anything was an uphill battle because the blonde was smart, but only in the way that he learned – and it didn’t match my way of teaching.

The blonde looked back at me with hopeful eyes.

I was taken back to the time when I first was becoming his friend. Naruto had looked at me with a heartbreaking hope that I wouldn’t leave, every day he searched me out to make sure I wasn’t going to become like his other ‘friends’ that left him.

“Good job Naru-chan~ I’m proud of you.” The smile I got was blinding.

Asuma was looking rather impressed, and Sasuke was staring at Naru-chan as though he’d never seen the blonde before.

That hadn’t been my intention when I taught the technique to the blonde, but close enough, especially when that smile he gave me turned into a hug that knocked me off my feet. My hand went into Naru-chan’s hair and played with it a little, and I felt happiness blossom even more within me. Seeing Naru-chan happy made me happy in ways that were hard to explain.

Shikamaru could feel his lips twitch at the warm scene, but was still a bit tense. The second he tried this technique, Raishi would be able to tell Shikamaru was capable of it – Of this, the Nara was sure. Even if he purposely flubbed it, the Uchiha’s sharp eyes would spot it.

In short, Shikamaru was screwed, because, with that one clue, Raishi would be able to put it all together.

“Fuck.” Shikamaru cursed under his breath, feeling slightly flustered and out of character. A flush was climbing onto his cheeks, and should he even bother to hide it at this point?

“So, like Naruto showed us, you use your chakra on your feet to climb up. Too much and you will blast away, too little and you will slip and fall. Just keep doing it until you can get to the top. This is a chakra control exercise, the one that comes before the water walking.” Asuma stated.

With that, he looked at me, “Mind watching them? I’m going to go talk to Kakashi for a bit. I’m sure you can think of something to teach Naruto in the meantime.”

I almost cursed under my breath that didn’t mean the best things for my own training. Normally I would be perfectly fine to take away from my own training in order to help my brothers, but I had something else I had to do. I needed to be able to face Zabuza's partner, and I needed my own training to do that... 

Asuma was already walking away though.

Might as well turn this into an opportunity though, “Naru-chan, why don’t you help Uke-chan do it. You can catch him when he falls~ It’ll be romantic.”

Naruto, who had been so happy with me a moment before blushed and glared at me with an embarrassed sort of heat – So he wasn’t as in denial as I thought? Probably because of that kiss during team assignments.

“Raishi please don’t say things like that.” He whispered frantically, whipping his head back and forth as though it would shake the thought off.

“It’s fine Naru-chan, I think you two together would be utterly adorable. Now go help him.” I whispered back, a teasing twist on my lip, before pushing him toward the scowling Sasuke, who disliked not knowing what other people were saying in front of him.

Shikamaru was actually sweating – Now that, I hadn’t ever seen.

I studied him, wondering just what was going on with him, but I wouldn’t ask in front of everyone, it could wait.

“The best way to go about this is to run up and mark your place with a kunai, keeping track of how high you are going, and then flipping back down when you inevitably mess up. I suspect Ino-kun will have trouble with this – Hot blooded males usually do.” I placed a finger on my mouth, as though considering the blonde and her abilities to do this exercise.

She glowered but turned her determination toward the tree instead.

Impressive self-control. Chouji just nodded, although he did look a bit worried Ino-kun would try to attack me.

Shikamaru still seemed weird, although I couldn’t put my mouth on why.

“Alright, start!” I clapped my hands twice, forcing the worry away replacing it with a reassuring smile.

All three of them ran toward their tree, I had been about to start shouting out tips when I noticed that Shikamaru was solid, so solid – Too good at the technique. Why hadn’t he said something? Why bother to hide the fact he could do it, and he looked so nervous before too why would he? It was a good thing that he could do that technique. In fact, it was essentially the same level of ability I was with it.

Back up, that was it.

If he was at my level of ability then he was sinking his chakra into the bark, not just sticking to the surface – Something you learned when you could water walk…

Water walking meant that he didn’t need my help before which meant…

Oh my god… Shikamaru played me! That lazy little… Oh sage, how did I not notice that... how embarrassing!  Him pressing against me like that – He had to have noticed my reactions, why did he press against me like that though, he even had I messed up he could have just water walked himself and never would have gotten wet which meant –

Yes, he soundly played me. He was experimenting wasn’t he; it was a Shika-chan thing to do. I could tell by the way he was staring at me now that he knew I was figuring it out. He didn’t bother to hide the fact he could do it either, the Nara must have known I would figure it out.  At least he wasn’t out to insult me, but he played with my feelings like that. He had to have known about the crush, or maybe he was just trying to make sure he was correct about it. Still, he soundly manipulated me.

I was blushing; I could feel the heat on my face, and I knew why.

I liked what Shika-chan had done.

I was a bit surprised by the feeling, to say the least. I should have been a lot angrier, but I was actually more impressed, happy, attracted to the mind that could actually play The Game with me, and on a level like this… Sure, I caught him, but that was beside the point. I wasn’t the type to fail in noticing manipulations – My mind was wired to hide things, to figure things out due to my appreciation for Shisui-nii's teachings, to KNOW people. Shikamaru had gotten around that.

Yes, a skill like that was astonishingly charming.

“How does this lazy ass know a technique like this before I do?!” Ino squawked, pretty embarrassed.

I pushed my thoughts away and my blush down, “I guess he’s just more skilled that Ino-kun, after all, Shika-chan doesn’t have anger problems. Even he’s more of a woman than Ino-kun~”

I honestly had no idea what to do with the new information presented to me. I wanted to understand why Shikamaru had done it, but I could exactly ask him when we were surrounded by everyone else. Instead, I just looked at Shikamaru and nodded my head toward Chouji.  Shikamaru lost some of his tense demeanor when I did this.  What, had he thought I would actually attack him or something? Publicly call him out? If he made assumptions like that about me, maybe I should next time.

Instead, I went on to ignore them, knowing Chouji was in good hands and focused on Ino.

“Way too little chakra Ino-kun, once you find the right amount, focus only on that. Empty your mind of everything else, shouldn’t be hard for such a simple mind as Ino-kun’s~” I sang out, giving a twisted smirk toward the blonde.

I actually started to like her now that she wasn’t hanging over Sasuke. She had a fiery personality and a lot of determination. She would need to learn to control those things, however, and what better way than to constantly say them in her presence. If she could tree walk with me teasing her, then she could probably do it when fighting. I was good at what I did, after all. Though I honestly couldn't keep up the training, I really did have my own training to do. At least, I tried to keep that in mind, but somewhere along the line, I became too enamored with helping my friends. 

…

It didn’t take too much longer for the tree walkers to get tired. We all headed back to the house, but I stopped Shikamaru, placing a hand on his shoulder. The rest of them looked back at us for a moment, giving us questioning looks, but I waved them off, "Shika-chan and I are going to watch the clouds for a bit.”

No one other than Chouji was interested in doing something like that.

Chouji left without looking back though – He certainly knew that something else was going on between us if he was giving that reaction. Did Shikamaru let him in on the little Game he played?

I didn’t say anything, just gave him a look.

His shoulders slouched a bit, “Troublesome… I guess I have to explain myself then. I was curious about you, and I guess I wanted to figure you out, so I dug a bit.”

“You’ve known me for years, you pretty much know everything about me, tell me why you did it,” I stated, not buying his vague statement for a second.

A drawn out sigh escaped the trapped man, “I guess that I wanted to see your reactions. It was worth it, they were… intriguing.” _Attractive, Adorable, Enduring, and I want more,_ Shikamaru developed in his own mind, shocking himself, he’d never faced feelings like that, good thing he had the foresight to shut his mouth. The last thing he wanted was an angry Uchiha on his hands.

“Shika-chan tried to seduce me~! He knows how much I like The Game and used it in such a way… He’s definitely trying to attract me.” I teased him, but my own face was red. 

Shikamaru seemed to choke on his own spit; I don’t think I’d ever seen him react with so much energy before. I could get used to that.

“Either way, Maru-kun, you are just going to have to wait longer before you try something like that again. Don’t put so much on my plate.” I scolded him, “Playing with me like that before you even ask me out on a date… On a mission too… How audacious, too audacious. I thought Maru-kun was slothful, but really, he needs to cool down a bit. I mean, seducing me before we are even thirteen, shame on you.”

“I wasn’t seducing you, troublesome Uchiha! I was testing a theory.” Shikamaru denied, waving his hands in front of his face, the flush still present.

“Not seducing me… So you were just playing with my emotions even knowing that I had a crush on you… What a heartbreaker…” I pouted at him, inwardly laughing as he scowled at me.

“You better ask me out soon Shika-chan, or I’ll tell your mother how you took advantage of my feelings like this.” I suddenly intimidated, but I wanted him. We were young, and I still think it is nothing more than a passing crush, but the way that Shikamaru had slyly played me like that… It was too much of a good thing to allow slipping through my fingers. If we tried and it turned out horribly, well, we could just blame it on misspent youth.

After saying that, I leaned over and gave Shikamaru a kiss on the cheek, lingering close for a moment and walking back to the house.

I could feel Shikamaru’s eyes on my back, and it felt good, knowing that I had a similar effect on as he had on me.

…

After I discovered the ‘Shikamaru Seduction’ I had gone back to the house to check on Kaka-sensei and sleep. The next day, I would work on the Shunshin technique, because as Kaka-sensei had pointed out, I would need it to keep up with my current most hated enemy – and I would kill that person. The threat that they posed to my loved ones was just too much to look past, and I had already put it off for far too long. I should have been doing this instead of taunting Ino-kun.

I walked around all day, moving my chakra around my body, figuring out how best to go about it. My brother had left steps on the technique, extremely detailed.

The first was just to get used to channeling chakra to your feet and legs. After that, you would start doing the same for extremely specific muscles. Every muscle that you used to do the ‘step’ would flood with chakra. That’s what it was, after all, it was less like a teleportation jutsu and more of a teleportation step, and a few back to back got you far.

It was hard to explain.  It’s as if each step had the same power as a single Shunshin. That was why it was faster, but it was almost more dangerous.

I don’t want to imagine how many times my brother had hurt himself doing this. I knew without even trying my first step that I was going to be ripping my muscles apart. It was lucky that I was a med-nin; otherwise, I probably couldn’t learn it without paying one to standby.

My brother was crazy to come up with and actually use this.

Shisui-nii had left it to me thinking I could learn it as well, so I would. It didn’t make him less crazy; after all, Shisui-nii hadn’t been a medic-nin like me.

I spent hours, just channeling chakra to my legs, learning the flow that I would need.

While I did this; I sat next to Kaka-sensei.

“You’re a disobedient little soldier aren’t you?” Kakashi said the moment I had started.

I grinned, “If I listened to everything a superior told me, I wouldn’t make a good shinobi. Besides, this is better than me doing it all by myself like I had planned~ You’re proud of me, aren’t you Kaka-sensei?”

He didn’t respond, but he was sitting up on the bed watching me as I practiced.

The others were out at the trees practicing. Shikamaru had taken over Ino-kun’s training after I told him I’d be training myself but inside. He seemed almost eager to agree with what I said in the face of all the emotions the night before. It was vaguely amusing; you would have thought I was the one to play _HIM_ with the way he was acting.

Eventually, it was time to start working on the second part, “Well, time for me to start actually practicing Kaka-sensei~ Don’t worry, if I need help I’ll scream so loud the rest of the Genin can hear and come get me.”

He gave an eye smile, and without a single note of sarcasm in his voice spoke, “Well, that’s reassuring.”

…

I choose a clearing pretty close to the one my friends and teammates were currently using. I could even hear Naruto and Sasuke arguing from here:

“Teme, concentrate!”

“… Hn… Don’t tell me what to do dope.”

Honestly, Naruto was probably right. It was unlikely he knew the real reason my cousin was so incapable of controlling his chakra, but he could tell it was something getting in the way. My cousin’s obsession with his brother was ridiculous.  The amount of hatred that he still held onto wasn’t healthy. This became even truer when I remembered my cousin as a kid – He wasn’t a stiffy. He was actually quite a bit more like Shisui-nii and me but he was turning out… Just like the rest of the family. I didn’t know what I could possibly do to help him.

I’d just have to become strong enough to protect him.

Step two was channeling the chakra but using the technique as though you were walking. It should boost you into an extremely quick run, but at least manageable so that you don’t hurt yourself too much.

It was interesting to imagine Shisui-nii learning that lesson the hard way.

I took a deep breath and took a step, crossing the whole clearing before I felt a sharp pain in both my legs, searing, shredding.

I choked down the sound that tried to escape my mouth. My chakra had taken a hit as well, half of my reserves in one jump. I knew Kakashi had said this was dangerous to learn alone, chakra intensive, but I hadn’t expected this.

I flashed through the hand signs for Mystical Palm – No need to waste the chakra on the numbing jutsu, I deserved the pain a little bit for my failure. Surely it would motivate me to do better next time. I had several small cuts on my muscles, small, but deep. My chakra had torn through my legs at in a jagged way – It was meant to be smoothed via tight control over your chakra. Instead, the jagged uncontrolled chakra caused more energy to leak out than it should have, forcing me to use more to keep momentum. I was lucky I didn’t rupture my chakra pathway with that risky irregular chakra spike. If I had, then I wouldn’t have been able to heal that and it could have caused a more serious issue without a healer on hand.

I wouldn’t give up though; I knew it was going to be a hard and painful process. If it were easy, then everyone would do it. This was part of the reason only Shisui-nii had done it, and I had a lot to live up too.

Besides, the look on my enemy’s faces when they realized that there was someone around with the same techniques as Shisui no Shunshin would be priceless – worth the pain.  I could practically imagine Naru-chan looking up to me with those eyes, that sparkle that entered them when he saw something cool – The best kind of motivation.

My thoughts had distracted me enough, and before I knew it, I had healed myself enough that I was just sore. Wasting more chakra would cut my training short – I had just about forty percent left.

I heard a crack of a twig and twirled around, reaching for my absent umbrella, only then realizing how utterly stupid a move it was to leave without my weapon.

It was a girl in a classical looking outfit, a choker around her neck, and yet I couldn’t help but feel something off.

Hatred ran through me, I reached for my kunai and my eyes activated, this was the third time in my life that I felt something so strongly, “Who are you?”

The civilian’s entire demeanor changed, and I knew I was right to be suspicious, “I hadn’t planned on this, but since you are so suspicious there isn’t anything I can change. Despite how much I regret this, for Zabuza-sama I must become the tool he made –“

I ran through hand seals, no longer waiting for the girl to finish her explanation. The second I heard the name ‘Zabuza’ from those lips, filled with such devotion, I couldn’t withhold the urge.

“Genjutsu: Nijū Shiryoku”

Immediately after casting it, I ran toward the girl, pulling out my single kunai as I did so. The Genjutsu would make the devotee see two of me coming, instead of one, this meant if they didn’t release the Genjutsu, it would show overlapping images of myself attacking, making it near impossible to block.

I went to ram my kunai right through the devotee’s neck, my wrist was grabbed.  The devotee had apparently released the Genjutsu before I had gotten close enough to attack; they were quick too, not as plainly fast as me, but close. My eyes caught the hand signs that they were making, and I swung a mediocre kick toward her head.

I disliked Taijutsu, but I wasn’t above using it, despite how much I wished I were.

The girl released me and retreated, staring at me, and I did the same.

Truly, I didn’t know how to beat the devotee. I had the one weapon, but Niju Shiryoku was one of my best Genjutsu. If they could release it so quickly, there was little hope of my Genjutsu working to a good enough, I would have to rely on speed, maybe I could use chakra needles like were needed in the Iryō Ninjutsu: Chakra no Kōkan as a weapon, but it was a long shot.

The truth was, I needed help – I didn’t want it though.

Was this the pride that Shisui-nii warned me was the downfall of Uchiha?

No, this was my want to protect Naru-chan and Uke-chan above all else, even my own safety.

I had a plan, and it wasn’t the smartest plan that I’ve come up with.

“You fight with anger… That is why you will never beat me – Who fights and lives my life only for Zabuza-sama.”

Oh darling, you clearly don’t know me. I always fought for the people I cared about, my own needs rarely came into the equation at all.

I made a single tiger hand sign, “Genjutsu: Kokuangyo no Jutsu.”

I could feel myself weighed down by the chakra lose, it flowed into the target so quickly – I wouldn’t let that stop me though, instead I forced myself to concentrate and run over to where the now prone target was, and stabbed them. I knew of course, that they could still hear, and planned accordingly, instead of going for the most obvious and easiest vital spot – The neck – I went for femoral artery.

It would take longer for him to die, and therefore give him the possibility of striking back in his last moments.

“SHIKAMARU!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, determined to hold the Genjutsu as long as possible, but my chakra was fading.

So was my vision, into an inky blackness that didn’t mean good things for me, considering my opponent hadn’t completely bled out yet, but before I fell under, I felt sharp pain spread through my body and heard a worried shout – “RAISHI!”


	10. The Family

Waking up was one of the most disorienting experiences I’ve ever had. The room around me was spinning, I felt heavy as if something was sitting on my chest, and I hurt _everywhere_. I recognized part of these symptoms easily enough, having suffered from chakra exhaustion before, but the other pains, sharp pains, were something else entirely.

Then I remembered what was happening before I blacked out.

Struggling, I fought to sit up, to take in my current situation, the first thing I noticed was that sitting up and struggling against the pain to do so had not made the room spin any slower. Eventually, my sense of sight moderated, and the room stilled. I was in the client’s house… In the same bed, Kakashi had been in. My injuries were like pinpricks… Similar to what I had used on Kakashi – Had the enemy gotten me with their senbon? I blacked out to the sound of my name being screamed, so they had saved me? What happened with the devotee?

Most importantly – What happened with Naru-chan, Uke-chan, and Shika-chan?

I heard noises downstairs, and they weren’t friendly.

The kid? I didn’t remember hearing him actually speak, but it was definitely a male boy down there, with the woman perhaps? Moreover, someone else was threatening them… Where was the team?

I had less than ten percent of my chakra, I couldn’t actually do anything to help them as far as chakra based shinobi skills went, but that didn’t mean I could just let a little kid be killed. Just thinking of Naru-chan’s face should he find that some kid had died on his first mission… Even if I had to risk myself a farther injury, I would do anything to keep such an expression off of my favorite blondes face.

I grabbed my umbrella. If I couldn’t fight with chakra, then I would just need to use the rawest of shinobi skills.

Physical fighting – Because of course, the situation would require my weakest area.

I could hear even louder complaints coming from down there – Although I couldn’t make the words out. My senses were dulled, chakra not going through them in order to conserve itself. I could hear muffled sounds of panic, but not much more.  

The only thing I would have on someone like this would be surprise and speed.

They wouldn’t expect my umbrella to actually be sharp enough to decapitate them, but did I really want to resort to that without really knowing the full situation?

No chances should be taken – I was too weak to go for a lesser option, I needed this to be finished as swiftly as possible.

I couldn’t tell where they were, I would need to actually go in to figure it out, which meant no planning, just reaction. The sounds were becoming more panicked, I didn’t have more time.

I burst in, quickly scanned the room, and jumped into the air, I could feel my injuries opening up, and I jumped lower than I needed for the decapitation move. I hadn’t accounted for the fact my legs were still having muscles with small cuts throughout because of the Shunshin I was injured using just before fighting the devotee. 

I needed something different – No time to really think.

I hit the floor in a crouch in front of the two enemies and forced their legs out from under them with the umbrella closed, before opening it as they fell downwards, fell right onto the sharp edge of the 'blade' and what became of the attack would have made most other Genin lose their lunch. Just the gravity of falling had caused the attackers to end up with half their neck impaled through the umbrella, blood dripped down the 'metal'. I tried to get them off of my weapon, but they didn't want to actually move, their bodies embedded onto it. I had killed before, but it wasn't like this... This just seemed excessive but... It was the shinobi world. I would simply need to get over it...

I kicked the bodies off of my umbrella swiftly, before falling to my knees as the room started to spin faster than before.

“Thank you so much!” A sobbing woman sounded, but my vision was faded and I couldn’t see straight.

Chakra exhaustion was one of the worst feelings; like a shinobi’s world was cut off. You didn’t realize just how much you relied on chakra until you literally couldn’t use it anymore. It brought about a sense of pity for civilians. Still, there was only one thing actually on my mind.

“Where’s my team?” I heard myself croak out.

“There at the bridge where my father is but, you can’t go!” My legs stood, and although the ground felt like it was moving under me, I continued on, “You’re injured! Please stay!”

I ignored that pleading voice and started to run as fast as I dared.

…

Eight percent – When had I used that last two percent of chakra? I don’t remember using it... Still, I was nearly there, and somehow I forced myself to go faster, even as the cuts in my muscles started to open more.

What if devotee lived and attacked my precious people, what if they were being attacked right now and someone the attacker got the best of the Jounin, what if… what if………. What if……

I could trust Shika-chan to protect them; he was smart, capable of doing so.

He was still a Genin.

I took a deep breath and forced my broken body even farther. The bridge came into view, I stepped onto it, and the battle was already finished. Only Zabuza was there as far as enemies go, all the Genin were okay, just standing by looking scared, and Zabuza was clearly not in fighting condition anymore.

The first thing I heard when I came into view was a muttered, “Troublesome.”

A familiar comfort entered me, my arm was grabbed and placed around someone’s shoulders, “You know, I once joked that your bothersome brother complex wasn’t going to end well but this is beyond expectations…”

I wanted to smile, but I felt a heavy gaze on me, and even Shika-chan tensed.

“You the one that killed my tool?” Zabuza spoke, his voice fighting to hide the current pain he was in. Was that a hint of sadness as well?

He wasn’t a threat – I did wonder why my sensei hadn’t killed him yet, but he seemed tired as well. Sure, he wasn’t injured to the point he looked like Zabuza, but he was probably out of chakra once again.

My sympathies Kaka-sensei…

Regardless, it was time to put on a show, “Yep~! That was me.” I chirped.

He looked considering, “How did you do it. I taught him well, he was at quite a high level, a Genin shouldn’t have been able to take him down,”

A plan was starting to form in my mind. Unlikely to work, but if it did – My benefit would be undeniable, and it would help to secure my Clan’s place in Konoha…

“Well, that’s probably why. Your little tool went into the fight well underestimating me~ Your own failing I’m sure. Plus, he assumed I would go for the neck fatal point, and not the leg. Also your failing, and now look at you. You’re going to die here, your client would never have paid you, and you have no tool. You were a fool to take this job.” I kept a cheerful voice, my tone never dropping below what could be considered being used for friendly conversation, “I bet you’re full of regrets now… You could have a second chance though.”

He wasn’t a threat – I reminded myself. If he agreed to this, he likely never would be. He wasn’t that tool of his, this now broken man before me didn’t scare me the way his tool did.

Everyone was silent, “… Raishi-kun what are you doing?”

Kakashi himself seemed unsure, hesitant as to what his most cunning student could be planning.

“What’s this offer, kid?” Zabuza spoke, blood dripping from his mouth.

What was the best way to entice a monster?

“You would get to live, and I would find a way to fix that broken arm of yours. You turn this down, you die like the moron you were to take this little mission. If you want to live, all you have to do is swear loyalty to my clan. I’ll adopt you as a member.”

I took in the reactions to my words. Shika-chan didn’t have one; he was expecting something like this from me, perhaps. He was the only one that knew I needed more members; it was likely he thought I was on the lookout. Naru-chan didn’t seem to understand what was happening, Chouji seemed similarly confused. Sasuke seemed stiff, but he hide any emotion reaction, he was a full blood main family Uchiha – Likely it never occurred to him that members could be adopted, or should be adopted, into the clan. Ino-kun was the most surprising.

“You can’t seriously be considering letting this monster into Konoha!” She hissed at me, her disgust clear.

Good, she was getting stronger, and the blonde had always spoken her mind, but now she was doing it for the betterment of the village instead of for her ‘Sasuke-kun’ and I couldn’t help but think it was a good thing.

Kakashi and Asuma had both fallen silent.

Things had fallen into Clan territory. Typically, Jounin weren’t included in matters such as this, although both Kakashi and Asuma were typical exceptions. Both extremely well known, and in some ways attached to a major political figure.

“Why not? Don’t worry Ino-kun, he would have ANBU on him for a long time before he was allowed to freely go about Konoha, but the amount of potential he could bring to the village shouldn’t be overlooked. He can either accept and join under me, or he can die. Really there is no downside to this~ Not for any of us.” I would have shrugged, had I not been barely keeping my coherency as it was.

“I’ll do it.” He said suddenly, and there was a determination there.

“Shika-chan bring me over there?” I asked, my voice low.

Making sure my arm was wrapped around his shoulder well enough; he placed his arm around my waist to hold my weight and brought me over. That’s when the sensei’s finally had enough.

Kakashi came over and gently pried me from Shikamaru’s grasp, “Putting one Genin in danger is enough I should think.”

His tone was dry, but he brought me over to Zabuza despite his obvious displeasure.  For some reason, I felt a lot less safe with my Jounin-sensei than I did with Shikamaru. What a hopeless idiot I am turning out to be. A moment later, I was sat next to Zabuza, who had flopped to the ground not long before that. He was losing a lot of blood, and I couldn’t exactly heal him considering my own current capacity.

I moved a shaking hand toward my pouch and pulled out two blood replenishing pills and an antibiotic as well, I handed them over with a small grin, “Who knew huh~ This mission got me a new family member. I get the feeling you are actually quite the loyal person when it comes down to it; I’m good at reading people after all.”

“You’re actually the devil, aren’t you brat? Offering me a deal like this… Knowing I can’t say no…” Zabuza tried to reply with a dry tone, but the blood leaking from his mouth kind of stopped the effect he might have been going for.

“Well, you would have ended up in hell anyway~!” I chirped, with a lot more energy than I actually had, taking a closer look at his injuries. With those two pills in him, and the blood starting to clot, there weren't any actual life-threatening injuries but... That shoulder, “I think you have a bit of a troublesome injury in that shoulder… No matter what though, I will keep our deal, even if it takes years, we are family now.”

My vision started to darken around the edges, and I could feel the world fading, “Oi! Don’t proclaim something like that then slump over!”

“Rai!”

The person calling out my name was Shikamaru, it was familiar… That time with the tool, the one that cried my name out was Shika-chan? How adorable… Sorry for worrying you Shika-chan.

I wished I could say that aloud, but my body’s limitations had been far too surpassed for far too long.

…

“You are so troublesome, but this is definitely me trying to pay you back for that time…”

“Raishi will definitely be okay! He’s strong, dattebayo! He’s one of the strongest people I know.”

“… I can’t believe the silver-tongued brat talked me into something like that well he was half dead.”

“My precious student is pretty impressive, huh Zabu-chan~!”

“You better not go dying before I can get you back for those things you said to me!”

“Shikamaru is worried…”

“I’m sorry.”

“You’re a lot stronger than I’d think for someone your age… You’ll grow up to be a fine shinobi.”

…

I could feel my body being held up in a piggyback style, air moving around me, salty air… Conversations around me seemed fuzzy, and I don’t really remember much of what happened well I was out, but there were some vague little lines that stuck out. Trying to recall seemed to give me a headache – So probably not the best thing to do after just waking up.

There was almost no pain, but I still felt heavy…

Last time I had just gotten Zabuza to join my clan, and I passed out if the pieces fit together.

“You are the most troublesome person I’ve met in my life.” The tone was strong, not lazy, and almost unfamiliar in its strength.

I couldn’t help but smile, my eyes remained closed, and I just let my head stay rested on the shoulder of my current caretaker, “Worried about me Maru-kun~? You haven’t even taken me on the first date yet.”

“At the rate you're going you won’t survive long enough for me to even ask.”

“Gasp! Shika-chan would say something like that even when his strong arms are holding me up. You’ll protect me won’t you?” I allowed myself to fall into familiar teasing.

“Ino is glaring; couldn’t you wait until we at least get to the village before you start acting like your usual troublesome self?” He groused, sounding much more like himself than before.

I guessed he really was worried about me. The Nara did see me almost die a few times lately, so it was probably understandable. We were extremely close friends, new circumstances aside. I knew that seeing someone you cared about in danger could change someone.

“I’ll pay attention to Ino-kun’s glares when he actually gains enough strength or brain cells to actually pose a threat to me,” I proclaimed, opening my eyes finally, taking in my surroundings.

I knew that Shikamaru was holding me, but when I actually saw it, I couldn’t help but grimace at the heat that spread to my cheeks. Especially when I could see Kaka-sensei looking too happy about it. That troublesome sensei… Zabuza was here too, he was standing next to Kakashi; he seemed in good enough shape considering his previous injuries… Though his shoulder was bandaged, he didn't seem capable of moving it. The Genin were standing away from him by a wide berth.

This reminded me that I needed to have a serious conversation with Sasuke about the Clans current circumstances, despite the fact I didn’t want to. I would also have to face the Hokage about my decision to allow Zabuza in the clan, and I would need to probably face some opposition from the council. The Clan Heads were unlikely to be against it – Zabuza was too valuable, but the civilians would probably throw a fit… Too much work.

I almost wished I was born a Nara – I wasn’t into incest though.

… I was going to have to try very hard to never remember that thought crossing my mind.

“What about me brat, I’m glaring at you now, am I a threat?” Zabuza spoke, a lot of people tensed, but I couldn’t help but smile.

“Zabu-chan is family now~! His glares don’t scare me.He's just like my tsundere cousin.”

I could feel Shikamaru snort and I could feel Uke-chan’s and Zabuza’s combined glares, but I swiftly ignored it. My cousin should be used to it by now, and I wasn’t changing myself for either him or Zabu-chan.

“So, what happened after I passed out?”

“It was awesome! Gazo’s men came and tried to threaten us—" Naruto started, but was interrupted by Ino.

“Gato, Naruto-baka, say it with me.” Ino-kun mocked Naru-chan, but there was an almost friendly edge to it now. Before when she was a Uke-chan fangirl, that wouldn’t have been there. So I could forgive her manly self for making fun of my precious brother.

“Whatever, dattebayo! That’s not the point! Inari came with a ton of villages and they finally stood up for themselves, it was super amazing, and I made a ton of clones to help scare those idiots away.”

“Wow, sounds like you were really awesome, what does Uke-chan think about your brave actions?” I asked, keeping a teasing edge to my tone, and I saw Naru-chan gain a little blush.

He quickly recovered though, giving an almost pout, but he seemed almost proud of himself, “Teme said he could have done it if he had the chakra reserves I do.”

Ah, a backhanded compliment then, sounded like my Tsutsu cousin. I could actually see him blushing a little bit, just around the tips of the ears, and I added it to the list of things to talk about with my cousin once we got back to the village.

I let it fall quiet after that, and judging by the current surroundings, we were in for a long walk. Probably hours more before we would reach Konoha. I tried to relax and found it a lot easier than it should be. In all likelihood, that was Maru-kun’s presence at work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Edited (D/M/Y): 14/10/2017
> 
> Edits Included: Grammar issues, a few flow issues, and a few word choices were changed. I also changed up the fight at the house to make more sense, before it seemed extremely confusing. This should work out better, but I'm really bad at dealing with actions scenes.


	11. The Adoption

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is very uncouth and unedited to be completely honest. I wanted to post something because it has been awhile... this is the story I choose though I honestly just kind of closed my eyes and randomly picked one. I've been super distracted by tons of stuff lately... I don't know yet if I'm going to write the next chapter right after this or even in a few months. I guess we'll just see how it goes. 
> 
> Some potential issues I see are Zabuza being too OOC, as I've never really written him before...   
> Not enough dialogue between the characters? Especially Asuma and Chouji  
> It's been awhile so I'm even a little bit scared of Raishi coming off as OOC.

The walk back to the village was rather awkward, to put it lightly.

I was pretty relaxed about the whole situation, and apparently, Shika-chan trusted me enough to be the same, but the same couldn't be said about the rest of our teams. Zabuza was also tensed, although that made the most sense. Technically, he was trying to kill everyone around him not all that long ago, I certainly would have been tense in such a situation. So the walk was pretty quiet after I had woken up, though Naru couldn't help the few outbursts of random whistling. I smiled every time Naru-chan did so because that was so like my little brother -

Wait, when had I started to consider Naruto a brother?

Naru-chan was freakishly like Shisui in so many ways, and I was being constantly teased by Shika-chan about my big brother complex in regards to Naruto and Sasuke, but to actually internally think of Naruto Uzumaki as my brother was a completely new level of attachment. I promised myself in that moment that I wouldn't outwardly express this, the last thing I wanted was to create friction of any sort in the team. I didn't reason it would happen, but Uke-chan and Naru-chan were rather unpredictable at times.

Those thoughts apparently kept my mind more busy than I had thought, because the next time my eyes came into focus, we could see the Leaf in the distance.

"Zabu-chan, no that's not a good nickname... Zabu Zabu then~ When we get to the front gates, they are going to take you into custody. You have to let them. Don't cause any trouble, and within a few hours I'll have you released and in your new home at the Uchiha compound." I suddenly informed, starting to ready myself for the likely overdramatic little showdown this was going to end up being.

The Nukenin in question gave a stiff nod of agreement, although he looked like he'd rather do anything but give himself over to the potential danger. I must have given off some sort of trustworthy aura, for such a man to actually listen to me. Then again, as far as I was concerned, we were family now. Maybe Zabu Zabu knew how seriously I took that. Whatever the reason, he seemed as though he would be agreeable. We got to the gate, and the guards who looked rather bored quickly jumped to attention at seeing Zabuza, seems he was well known as he had claimed. I was still barely healed, my muscles still having injuries and my chakra barely having recovered at all, but I was still ready to attack the guards should they  _think_ about treating a member of  _my_ clan the wrong way. 

"This is Zabu Uchiha, he needs to be detained until I can talk to the Hokage, but I know you'll treat him with the utmost care and hospitality that you would give any member of my clan... right~?" I sang out, but I presume my narrowed eyes gave me away, as the two men gulped slightly, and nodded. 

"My precious student is scary, look at the adorable Chunin jumping around at your orders." Kakashi drawled out once we walked passed them, one of the two guards taking Zabu Zabu to what was most likely a cell in the interrogation section. 

Shika shook his head lightly, "I thought it was just a big brother complex, but it seems that it's more of a momma bear complex." 

"I knew you would acknowledge my feminine charms, Maru-kun, it was only a matter of time~." I hugged myself so close to his neck that it was borderline choking him. 

Although I couldn't see it, I could feel Shikamaru rolling his eyes at my overdramatic actions. Yet, I didn't take offense to that, after all, he  _liked_ me, so the exasperation must have been the fond sort. 

...

The trek to the Hokage's office was far more of an ordeal than you would guess. Once Zabu Zabu was no longer around to keep the mood tense, Naruto abruptly had to let that well of energy that had been mounting out. The number of dirty looks we got on the way from the civilians probably would have hurt Naruto's spirits, had he not been so used to it. The glares that I gave the plebeians for their troubles, even injured and being carried by Shikamaru, still stuck a deep chord with them. At least, if they knew what was good for themselves. 

"Hey Rai, do you think that the old man will really be okay with Zabuza staying here?" Naruto suddenly asked as we walked into the building. 

Having already weighed the potential reactions the Hokage could give, I didn't have a clear answer to give Naru-chan. The Hokage wasn't unpredictable per say, but he did have a variety of options available to him. Usually, there were some he wouldn't use because of the clan being powerful enough to make him not want to anger, but that wasn't currently the case with the Uchiha. "It's most likely that he will put Zabuza on some sort of probation, though I doubt he will actually attempt to hurt Zabuza, as he is already adopted into the clan. Should other clans see that, they might take exception, which the Hokage will want to avoid. That's the hard part of being Hokage, really. Putting your village first, but still keeping the people happy isn't an easy balance to achieve. I absolutely admire all the Hokage for being able to manage it, that's for sure." 

Naru-chan looked up to be with that innocent sort of awe that had me melting, "Wow Raishi, you really do know a lot of stuff." 

"Well, I have to help little blonde idiots reach their goals~" I sang out, ignoring the way Shika-chan's snort shook his body. 

"Perhaps my precious students should wait before planning to take over Konoha, and instead focus on surviving this debrief," Kakashi suggested, Asuma seemed rather resigned himself. They had allowed Genin on a high-level mission where a clan head had gotten injured, which surely would be a large black mark on their record.

"I was just planning on blaming everything on you, Kaka-sensei." I declared, giving my sensei a little smile, not even bothering to put on an innocent front. 

Kakashi merely tilted his head in thought, "Well, I guess that during our punishment D-Ranks I could have you guys wear weights in order to maximize physical conditioning. Might be a good training idea."

Naru-chan and Uke-chan looked happy at the prospect, but Kaka-sensei wasn't fooling me, I knew that he was downright threatening me with more work should I not step up the plate and stop them from getting in trouble. I plainly gave a wide grin to him, however, all the while internally moping,  _kill yourself sensei._ My darker feelings were increased by the shaking I could feel erupting from Shika-chan, something I knew was laughter. So, if I inadvertently dug my elbow into his collarbone in vengeance, well, it was something that he deserved. Which is exactly why I ignored the grunted out 'troublesome' that came after.

"God, you guys are weird," Ino commented, giving Team Seven a raised eyebrow. 

I turned toward Ino and blinked innocently, "Weird? That's the best Ino-kun's ape brain could come up with? I guess I shouldn't have expected more from him... Yet I'm still disappointed." 

The blonde fumed silently, her eyes darkening as she looked upon the Uchiha, but didn't bother to reply now, as we walked into the Hokage officer. That didn't mean Ino was going to let it go, however, instead Ino started to slowly plan her revenge. She would prove that Uchiha wrong and become strong enough to gain his acknowledgment, both as a woman and as his comrade. 

The room was empty save the Hokage himself, already smoking and in his typical attire. Though you could barely see him behind the piles of paperwork that seemed to be building up in front of him. I almost couldn't wait for the day that Naruto had to do that much paperwork. The laugh that I would get from that would last me a few years at least. He didn't seem particularly angry, neither did he seem happy, just the textbook picture of neutral, "I hear that you had quite the eventful first C-Rank mission." 

Before any of us could speak up, Naruto jumped in with a great deal too much excitement, "Have I got a story for you, old man!" 

Before any of us could stop him, Naruto blurted out the entire mission in all its details. Sure, Asuma and Kakashi weren't planning on lying to the Hokage, of that I was positive, but they would have been less... blunt about the entire thing. Naru-chan, on the other hand, had no idea that some of the things he was suggesting were really painting the teams in a bad light. I was almost sure that I could feel the weight of the punishment Kakashi had planned, but instead, the Hokage gave a chuckle. 

I would never understand that old man.

"Seems like you've had a busy time. Everyone is dismissed over than Kakashi, Asuma, and Raishi." The Hokage suddenly announced. 

Shikamaru tensed for a moment, before carrying me over to one of the seats in front of the Hokage's desk and carefully depositing me there. He shot me a look that was full of deeper things, far too many to pick apart at the moment, but I just returned it with a smile, "See you soon, Maru-kun."

"Come on guys! Let's celebrate a job well done by getting some ramen!" I heard Naruto exclaim, just as all the Genin other than myself finally left the room.

The Hokage was quiet for a moment, and the room was rather still. I could feel some awkwardness creeping up on me, but I forced myself not to show weakness in front of this man. At least, no exceeding weakness than I was currently displaying. He seemed rather kindly, but I knew that such things could change at the drop of a hat. This was a powerful man after all... and powerful men were all the same. 

"It's an interesting game you're playing here, Raishi-kun." The Hokage commented, looking at me with an almost dry look. 

I just smiled, "Game? I have no idea what you are talking about. I just know that I need more members for my clan, and they need to be strong as well~ Wouldn't want Itachi to come back and slaughter everyone, would we?" 

"So you brought in a Nukenin that was made thus by his choice to overthrow his Kage? Interesting." The old man commented once again, before turning toward Kakashi and Asuma, "I'll ignore the fact you endangered so many of your students and jump right into a far more important question, how much of a threat do you think that Zabuza Momochi presents toward the village?" 

Before either of them could answer, I needed to make sure the Hokage fully understood the situation, "He's Zabuza Uchiha, not Momochi."

All three men turned to stare at me for a moment, but I just kept a smile painted on my face, "What? You wouldn't want to get his name wrong, would you? Lest you forget that you are now dealing with a member of my clan, who has all the rites of my family and therefore deserves the treatment that all over clan members would deserve. I think the precedent that was set for this situation is already outlined in the laws anyway, really there isn't much more need for discussion on the matter. Sorry if this seems rather abrupt, and I don't want to see rude Hokage-sama, but I really do need to go to the hospital and get my newest relative situated..." 

I could feel the heavy gazes of those around me, but this wasn't some power play and I wasn't trying to disrespect the Hokage. Simply enough, I knew the rites that I had, and I wasn't about to let them short sell me because they thought I wasn't cognizant of it. 

"Very well Raishi-kun, then you know it's three years of careful monitoring and should he decide to become a shinobi, no missions above C-Rank for that duration. He must swear to not place the village in harm's way, and if he in any way does so, he immediately gets executed, no questions asked, no waiting period, it's immediate. Even if something looks the slightest bit suspicious, we won't take the chance." The Hokage explained, almost gently, as if I didn't already know what it was I was asking for. Despite showing my 'intelligence' card, clearly, I was still underestimated. Annoying, but something that was reasonably easy to deal with.

"Should he step out of line, I'll cut his head off myself." I declared, serious in a way that none in the room had seen me before, "It's my responsibility if my clan steps out of place, I know this. Now, if you could settle his release up for me and have him sent to me, I would be grateful, especially since I remarkably enough need to get some rest now." 

Wait... Responsibility for my clan...

No, it couldn't be, but it makes sense but...

Is that what happened that night? 

There wasn't even anything to substantiate the claim at all, just the weird feeling that the idea fits perfectly with the things I did know. I knew that the clan, in general, was getting 'stiffer' during the months leading up to the massacre, I knew that Shisui had been expecting something to happen, to the point where he asked me to watch out for Sasuke... Did he think Itachi wouldn't be around to do it? If so, then why? The whole clan getting stiffer could be a sign of plenty of things, but something that would make Itachi kill them, I'm not sure of anything that would push it that far but... Yes, it definitely seemed like it  _could_ be a possibility.

_Did Itachi take up responsibility for his clan having gotten out of line?_

Still, it was such a jump conclusion to come to, really there was no way of proving whether I was right or not without plainly coming out and asking, which I couldn't do with Kakashi and Asuma in the room. Something I didn't even want to ask the Hokage because really, did I even want to know if I was right? What would I do with that information, what  _could_ I even do with the information were I to turn out right? Nothing, that was the simple answer, and besides, I had suspicions before which I just threw aside and didn't bother with. Protecting Sasuke and Naruto was more important than the past. Whatever happened the night of the massacre, whatever the reasons, it happened and it was over with. Digging up a past like this would only bring about more pain.

"Dismissed - Asuma, Kakashi, I expect a full written report by tomorrow morning." 

Kakashi picked me up and jumped out the window without warning, though it barely tousled my injuries. 

"You were rather impertinent in there, Raishi-kun," Kakashi spoke as he jumped along the rooftops toward the hospital.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Kaka-sensei~ I simply demanded the things I was owed, and that's exactly why I got what I did. The Hokage was about to attempt to shortchange me, and I will protect my family, even from wrinkly, white, old men such as yourself and the Hokage~" Raishi teased out, especially placing emphasis on the word old, making it so that despite the seriousness of the words, it was hard to actually take them seriously. 

"Raishi-kun thinks I'm old...? Clearly, he needs more Taijutsu practice so he can learn just how energetic I am." Kakashi uttered, dropping the more serious subject as it seemed what he wanted to say wouldn't be getting through. 

...

 When I got out of the hospital Zabu-chan was waiting for me. I could only assume that meant there were several ANBU around as well, though I couldn't actually detect them. They wouldn't be good at their job if I could, after all. He looked heavily uncomfortable, his face was unmasked and his previous forehead protector was gone. I mused over the idea of making him wear a forehead protector with the Uchiha Clan symbol instead, should he choose to not become a shinobi of the leaf, but discarded the idea, as it would give people the wrong impression of what I was trying to do. 

"How are you liking your new village Zabu Zabu?" I asked, even as the man scowled at me for the nickname. 

"Do the people here even know what a true shinobi is?" He growled out, looking around with a vague sense of annoyance and unease, "The civilians even seem to like the shinobi here... All the other villages I've been too the shinobi were hated. Konoha actually is full of soft-hearted people." 

"Oh I wouldn't let them fool you~ the naughty stuff goes on behind closed doors. The sort of manipulation they like to throw out there is damning and there are a lot of politicians in this village who really know how to play The Game." I explained, gesturing for Zabuza to follow me as I started to make the walk home. My muscles were fairly healed, though I was required to take a full day off of training to fully recover, "I suppose I should certainly explain myself..."

"No shit," Zabuza stated blankly, though there were some underlying emotions anger and frustration. 

Forgivable anger and frustration at that, considering I basically dragged him into a clan via blackmail and then proceeded to pass out without explaining myself.

"Which I will after we get back to the Compound and grab my darling cousin. Then we can talk all sorts of fluffy and fun politics~" I twittered out rather sarcastically but ended up turning toward Zabuza with a small smile, "Regardless of everything else though... Welcome to the family Zabu Zabu. It's totally official now, by the way, Hokage approved and everything, reluctantly though it was." 

"Yes, because this family seems like it's going to be a load of fun, between the massacres and politics and the blackmail, don't forget the blackmail." He sounded angry, but there was a weird softening to his eyes that was not there before. 

...

All three of us gathered in the place where the meetings of the family used to take place. It was awkward, really, because this place was clearly made to hold so much more people, instead, it was just the three. Still, I found that easy enough to ignore. The past was the past, I just needed to focus on my plans to make it better again, and maybe if the clan eventually came together again in some form, Sasuke wouldn't feel the need to go after Itachi. It was a long-term plan, but anything to protect my cousin. 

"Why did you adopt him?" Sasuke asked, his displeasure clear in his voice, "He's not an Uchiha, I don't understand the reasoning behind adding him to our clan." 

Was that a bit of elitism I heard in his voice? Regardless, I needed to set my darling Uke-chan straight, "He is an Uchiha now, Zabu Zabu Uchiha, or legally Zabuza Uchiha, if you will. Listen Uke-chan, if this clan is to survive, we need to let go of the old and outdated ideas of elitism and attachment to the bloodline. We need to focus more on strength and loyalty. I don't think it needs saying that the old ideas didn't work, because, well, all of those that believed in them are now dead. To make matters worse, I'm attracted to someone who, last time I checked, isn't capable of making little monsters... and despite your denial, as are you Uke-chan. We would have needed to adopt for those reasons eventually anyway."

"Why me?" Zabu Zabu spoke, his growling voice breaking through any other sound around the original Uchiha relatives. 

I actually took a second to really think the answer over, "Because I noticed you were sad about that 'tool' of yours... and I thought that someone who was strong, could care, and was unlikely to end up getting killed should Itachi come back to finish the job, was a good idea. You bring a lot to the table and you've significantly raised our power as a clan. To be perfectly clear, we used to be the top of the totem pole, now we are literally on our dying gasps as a clan. We will need to start making a lot of concessions that would make our ancestors rise from the dead just to stop us if they could."

Zabu Zabu actually reached for his sword with his good arm, pointing it at my neck, but I didn't so much as flinch, "You killed Haku... and what, you expect me to play house with you?"

"You know Zabu Zabu, when I met with the Hokage I told him that should you do anything that goes against the rules of your probation, I would take your head off myself." I turned toward him with a wide smile, "Before it was either become my family member or die, now it's either stay loyal to the village or die. I know, I know~ I really am a hard person to like sometimes... but I would do anything for my family, and you are included in that Zabu Zabu if you want to be.~" 

The man didn't even flinch, just stared at my smiling face with a sort of wistful look. 

Zabuza couldn't help but think of Haku's smile as he looked at Raishi's face. The brat was downright evil in his manipulations, that was for sure, but he was doing it to protect the people he considered to be his. Haku was much the same, willing to do anything to protect Zabuza, even twist his own heart... Maybe others couldn't see it, maybe Raishi didn't want it to be seen, but in this moment, Zabuza could see Raishi's bright heart twisting. The teasing that Raishi gave, so genuine, was the true Raishi... This slyness was also him, but the more mean-spirited blackmail, that was him being forced to be something else entirely... 

And Zabuza didn't want to be the person who forced another pure-hearted person to go down that sort of path. He had learned his lesson with his now dead apprentice. 

So Zabu lowered his sword, and as he did so, I went over to him and laid a hand on his injured shoulder, forcing my still low chakra to scan his injuries. They weren't as extensive as they looked, a small miracle, and a few minutes of silence later, he was almost entirely healed. 

Uke-chan didn't look entirely happy with the circumstances. 

"Don't point a sword at him again, or I'll be the one to take your head off." I heard Uke-chan hiss out, clearly pissed. 

Honestly, I was surprised and warm-hearted to notice just how much Uke-chan really cared about me. I thought I was losing ground for the last few days, but really it seemed that I was still net positive, and I think the grin I gave was the purest that I had given since Shisui was still alive. 

I had Uke-chan, a slowly rebuilding clan, Naru-chan, an okay sensei, and Shikamaru as well... Really everything was starting to come together rather well. Even with that bright smile though, I couldn't help but remember some of Shisui's words. 

_There will be moments of pain quickly followed by moments of happiness. Take these as they came, but don't forget to also shield yourself, more pain will come soon after if you aren't careful. Remember to walk that line between careful and open, and always know that even when I'm gone, I still love you and want you to be happy, no matter what little brother. Remembering that someone loves you, allowing those moments of happiness, but guarding against the pain, that, I think, is one of the most important things to avoid when it comes to being a stiffy. The clan feels emotions strongly, love and hate, and most of them are a stiffy because they lost that love and only have the hate left. Maybe I'm rambling a bit, this is meant to be an informational textbook and hear I am talking more about feelings..._

_Next time I promise technical stuff, alright Rai-chan?_

"Look at us, truly bonding as a family, even making death threats toward each other. Must be a sign of how close we are~" I teased out, reaching over to Uke-chan to give him a flick on the forehead before I continued on, "Alright, so the current situation with the clan is thus..." 

I spent the next hour explaining what was happening and some different ideas on how to help it out. Sasuke wasn't very engaged, clearly wanting to go and train more, though he stayed and supported me, Zabu Zabu, on the other hand, surprised me. He had a vast amount of political knowledge and was great at giving out tips. He seemed to eventually start to genuinely end up interested in the current state of things. All and all it was a surprisingly productive night, which was something I really hadn't been planning at all. Zabu Zabu must have noticed my surprise because he gained a more arrogant look on his face, "You didn't think I know politics, what, I just planned the assassination of my Kage for fun?"  


"I mean as long as you didn't try it here I was okay with the idea." I shrugged, but there was a joking glint to my eye, and a true sort of fascination with the information I was gaining out of Zabu Zabu. 

"Pfft, you're a good kid, extraordinarily good, but you've got a lot to learn about this stuff," Zabuza commented, though it wasn't malicious. It didn't even sound like he thought I was unprepared or childish, just that I had more to learn and it was a fact which needed accepting. 

So, I accepted it, and asked him, "Teach us?" 

"No." 

Well, that request could have gone better.

 


End file.
